Overview

Employers call on attorney Haley Morrison to solve their toughest employment disputes and to advise them on compliance with a wide array of labor and employment laws.

Haley provides counsel to employers on a broad range of matters, with a particular focus on employment litigation in California and Oregon, in both single-plaintiff and class action contexts, as well as trade secret litigation. Haley conducts comprehensive employment practice diagnostics for national and global companies, as well as workforce-exempt classification reviews. Clients also seek her advice on discrete issues in countless employment-related contexts.

Among her many achievements, Haley is listed in The Best Lawyers in America, Chambers USA, and Super Lawyers in Oregon and California. She has also been recognized as one of America’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators® as a result of her successes defending businesses in significant class actions. Haley was recently inducted into the American Employment Law Council, which is an invitation-only organization for the nation’s top labor and employment attorneys.

Haley’s clients run the gamut from startups to Fortune 100 companies. She also regularly works with businesses selected by a renowned technology incubator in San Francisco, whose companies have a combined value of over $100 billion.

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Before joining Epstein Becker Green, Haley was a partner in the Labor & Employment Practice Group of an Oregon law firm, after having worked in California for a multinational law firm. While she was a student at the University of San Diego School of Law, Haley served as an intern in the Attorney General’s Office and an extern for the Honorable Nita L. Stormes in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

Haley is a past Board Chair for Playworks, a nonprofit that improves the well-being of elementary-aged children by increasing opportunities for safe, meaningful play, and she is on the Advisory Board of Bridge City Soccer Academy, a nonprofit organization teaching girls to make empowered decisions both on and off the field. Haley also participates in several leadership groups focused on making the Greater Portland area a healthier and safer place to live.

In addition, Haley is a soccer player (she played soccer collegiately at Colorado College (NCAA Division I) and semi-professionally for several seasons before attending law school), a runner, and an overall sports enthusiast. In her spare time, she runs ultramarathons and volunteers with programs focused on building self-esteem and discipline through sports.

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Focus Areas

Experience

  • Concluded a case spanning nearly seven years on behalf of a Fortune 100 company with an unqualified defense decision in arbitration.
  • As a result of early motion practice, achieved a complete walk-away on California statewide class action allegations involving more than 500 engineers.
  • Attained a complete defense verdict in an exempt misclassification case tried before a jury.
  • Authored a motion for partial summary judgment that resulted in the plaintiff voluntarily dismissing a putative class action worth more than $300 million that involved hundreds of drivers, warehouse workers, and front-office personnel.
  • Prevailed on summary judgment and, in an exceedingly rare decision by a federal court, won a petition for defense fees and costs on behalf of the client.
  • After defeating class certification in a case involving supervisors in the package delivery industry, prevailed on follow-on individual actions through motion practice and/or trials. After a string of victories without a single loss, the remaining individual plaintiffs dismissed their cases outright.
  • Defended two cases on behalf of different clients to successful resolution before the California Supreme Court. One matter was a single-plaintiff wage and hour issue; the other was a class action related to vacation pay. Both decisions have become seminal California law.
  • Prevailed on summary judgment as to the named plaintiffs in a nationwide independent contractor matter, thereby mooting their efforts to certify a collective action.
  • After winning every pretrial motion and arguing prehearing briefs, settled contentious discrimination claim for nuisance value three days before trial.
  • Defeated class certification in a statewide exempt misclassification matter regarding retail supervisors.
  • Achieved more than two dozen complete victories on summary judgment.
  • Negotiated very favorable client results in numerous mediations, including in statewide and nationwide class actions and single-plaintiff cases.
  • Obtained asylum for an Ethiopian refugee who had suffered lifelong persecution. And, after five years of advocacy—which included leveraging support from two U.S. Senators and a Congressman—successfully petitioned for derivative status for the refugee’s five young children.

Recognition

  • America’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators, Class Action Defense, Class Action Litigation, Employment & Labor Litigation, High Stakes Litigation, and Trade Secret Litigation (2018 to 2019)
  • The Best Lawyers in America, Litigation – Labor & Employment (2020 to 2024)
  • Chambers USA, Labor & Employment - Oregon (2019 to 2023)
  • The Corporate America, Legal Elite (2015)
  • The Daily Transcript – San Diego, Top Attorney – Labor & Employment (2012 to 2014), Top Young Attorney (2012 to 2014)
  • Oregon Rising Stars, Labor & Employment (2016-2018)
  • Oregon Super Lawyers, Employment Litigation: Defense (2020 to 2023)
  • San Diego Business Journal, Best of the Bar (2014 to 2015)
  • San Diego Rising Stars, Labor & Employment (2015)

Credentials

Education

  • University of San Diego School of Law (J.D., magna cum laude, 2008)
    • Order of the Coif
  • Colorado College (B.A., 2001)

Bar Admissions

  • California
  • Oregon

Professional & Community Involvement

  • American Bar Association
  • American Employment Law Council
  • Bridge City Soccer Academy, Advisory Board Member (2020 to Present)
  • Gus Solomon Inn of Court, Member (2023 to Present)
  • Los Angeles County Bar Association
  • Multnomah Bar Association
  • Playworks Pacific Northwest, Board Member (2015 to 2020) and Past Chair (2016 to 2020)
  • Portland Business Alliance, Leadership Portland Class of 2017
  • San Diego County Bar Association
  • University of San Diego, Alumni Association
  • Wallace Inn of Court (2010 to 2012)
  • Women’s Foundation of Oregon, Founding Member (2015 to 2016)

Media

Events

Past Events

  • ILTACON: From Fiction to Reality: The Evolution of Consumer-Grade AI to Law Firms
  • Boiled Down Podcast, Employment Laws & COVID Considerations
  • Tools to Survive the COVID-19 Economy: CARES Act SBA Loans, Employment Laws, and Corporate Issues
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Insights

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