Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP is a full-service, corporate law firm headquartered in Cleveland and with attorneys located throughout Ohio.
Since 1903, our mission has been to provide meaningful legal and business counsel in matters that are critical to the success of our clients. Our lawyers routinely represent a wide spectrum of private and public organizations – from emerging companies to Fortune 500 corporations – as well as government entities, nonprofit organizations, trade associations, and individuals.
For more than 120 years, it’s been Calfee’s continuing commitment to be extremely accessible and responsive, to approach each situation with an entrepreneurial spirit, to invest time to understand each client’s particular circumstances, to provide creative solutions, to focus our talent and resources on results that make a difference for our clients – and to accomplish these goals efficiently, collaboratively and in a way that optimizes value for our clients. These principles are the benchmark for our attorneys and staff.
Calfee is consistently ranked one of the top law firms in Ohio and continues to receive recognition, both nationally and regionally, from a number of leading industry publications.
Calfee Core Values
For more than 120 years, it’s been Calfee’s continuing commitment to be extremely accessible and responsive, to approach each situation with an entrepreneurial spirit, to invest time to understand each client’s particular circumstances, to provide creative solutions, to focus our talent and resources on results that make a difference for our clients – and to accomplish these goals efficiently, collaboratively and in a way that optimizes value for our clients. These principles are the benchmark for our attorneys and staff.
Labor and Employment
Calfee’s Labor and Employment attorneys support clients by providing day-to-day employment counseling, defending administrative complaints and representing clients in litigation concerning state and federal discrimination laws, the National Labor Relations Act, the Family & Medical Leave Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and workers’ compensation claims.
Additionally, our team provides aggressive, cost-effective defense of claims of wrongful discharge and violations of individual employment rights, and we litigate cases involving noncompete agreements and other restrictive covenants.
Calfee’s Labor and Employment attorneys represent publicly and privately held corporations, partnerships, and sole proprietorships, including unionized and non-union employers as well as public-sector entities.
In the union setting, Calfee attorneys represent management in grievances, arbitrations, and collective bargaining negotiations. They also provide advice to clients in the context of mergers, acquisitions, and other corporate transactions, including potential effects of labor agreements, severance programs, and state and federal plant closing/mass layoff laws. With the continuing challenges presented by the increasing number and complexities of laws affecting the workplace, Calfee’s attorneys provide timely guidance and counsel as to the constantly changing laws affecting the workplace.
Calfee’s Labor and Employment attorneys are committed to addressing workplace-related concerns and disputes that often arise on a moment’s notice. We provide immediate guidance as to the termination of employment, alleged sexual and other discriminatory harassment, drugs/alcohol in the workplace, OSHA investigations, and other HR concerns. Working with human resources professionals, our practitioners assist clients in avoiding potential liabilities and in maintaining working environments committed to mutual respect and appreciation of individual contributions.
Labor and Employment Litigation
Calfee’s Labor and Employment litigators have extensive experience defending companies and individually named management representatives in both administrative proceedings and federal and state courts.
Our employment litigation attorneys represent employers in matters involving the EEOC, the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, other state FEP agencies, the Department of Labor, and the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation.
Our experienced trial lawyers defend against claims of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, as well as alleged violations of the FSLA, NLRA, OSHA, WARN, and other employment-related laws. Our team has extensive experience litigating claims involving alleged breaches of noncompete and other agreements involving restrictive covenants.
We represent management before the National Labor Relations Board on petitions for union representation and in defense of unfair labor practice charges.
Our lawyers defend management in state and federal court litigation arising from complaints of age, sex, race, religion, national origin, and/or disability discrimination under state and federal laws, as well as in cases involving the Family and Medical Leave Act, Fair Labor Standards Act, and other federal and state workplace laws.
Calfee's employment litigation attorneys provide aggressive, cost-effective defense of claims of “wrongful discharge” and violations of individual employment rights and specialize in the enforcement of noncompetition, nonsolicitation, and confidentiality agreements.
Our Workers’ Compensation practice attorneys regularly defend state-fund and self-employers in claims for workers’ compensation benefits in both administrative and court-related proceedings.
Chambers USA Leading Law Firm Rankings
Since 2019, Calfee has been recognized as a Leading Law Firm for Labor and Employment by Chambers USA, most recently in Band 3 in Ohio (2025).
Chambers USA researchers note that the practice is known to be "proficient in the handling of a wide range of labor and employment matters. Areas of strength for the firm include the representation of management in collective bargaining negotiations with unions, defending clients against claims of wrongful discharge and discrimination, and day-to-day employment counseling. Calfee's expertise also stretches to the enforcement of post-employment agreements."
Clients interviewed by Chambers USA said, "The Calfee team has a high level of knowledge. Calfee is consistently responsive, thorough, and knowledgeable. The attorneys we work with at Calfee are able to quickly distill and interpret the relevant information pertaining to a matter, cut past the emotional and subjective factors, and focus on the law. The firm is very thorough and concentrates on the details; they are experts in the law and how it applies to the issues while understanding the business needs. The group is accessible and calls you back very quickly. They are a pleasure to work with and every one of them knows their stuff. They are spot-on technically, on top of everything and always provide good solid counsel. We are extremely satisfied with the work Calfee has done for us. The group is thorough, creative, and responsive."
Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” Rankings
Calfee was selected for inclusion in the 2025 "Best Law Firms" rankings in the following areas:
- Employment Law – Management (Regional Tier 1 Cleveland)
- Labor Law – Management (Regional Tier 2 Cleveland, Regional Tier 3 Cincinnati)
Benchmark Litigation Rankings
Calfee was selected for inclusion by Benchmark Litigation 2024 as a Highly Recommended Law Firm in Dispute Resolution in Ohio. Additionally, 14 of Calfee's Litigation partners have been ranked by Benchmark Litigation as "Litigation Stars" in the U.S. (National), Midwest, and Ohio and as “40 & Under" and "Future Stars" Honorees.