James W. Nagle

Jim Nagle is a retired partner and former chair of Goodwin’s Labor & Employment practice. With more than 30 years’ experience, Mr. Nagle focuses his practice on defending corporations against employee claims. He has been recognized as a leading attorney in his field by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, where clients praised his approach, stating “he knows just the right balance between being an effective, strong advocate without being overly aggressive."

Mr. Nagle practices in both state and federal courts, as well as before a variety of administrative agencies. He is experienced in litigating complex age, sex, race and disability discrimination claims, including class actions and jury cases, as well as in defending whistle-blower, civil rights, employee privacy and drug-testing cases. He also has substantial experience negotiating and litigating issues related to the termination of highly compensated senior executives, as well as significant appellate experience dealing with complex and novel employment law claims.

Mr. Nagle represents a broad spectrum of regional and national clients in diverse fields, including high technology, financial services, manufacturing, retail and higher education. He regularly counsels clients on strategies for avoiding employment litigation and maintaining positive, direct relations with employees. He also has experience advising clients with affirmative action, collective bargaining, labor arbitration, OSHA and wage and hour issues. His recent engagements include:

• Defending an age discrimination collective action brought by more than 100 plaintiffs arising out of a reduction-in-force and alleging disparate impact and a pattern or practice of discrimination
• Prevailing before the First Circuit in a case of first impression that limited the extra-territorial application of the whistle-blowing protections of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act
• Guiding the independent board members of a publicly traded company in responding to sexual harassment allegations directed against the company's chief executive officer
• Achieving a substantial, favorable jury verdict on behalf of a departing CEO and his new employer charged with misappropriating confidential information from his prior employer

Mr. Nagle served as the management chair of the Labor and Employment Law Section of the Boston Bar Association from 1992-1994. He serves on the Individual Rights and Responsibilities Committee of the American Bar Association's Labor and Employment Law Section.

Mr. Nagle has been selected for inclusion in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business and U.S. News-Best Lawyers. While in law school, he served as an editor of the Georgetown Law Journal at Georgetown University Law Center.

Mr. Nagle is a contributing editor to the ninth edition of the American Bar Association's Covenants Not to Compete: A State-by-State Survey.