Overview

Shannon K. Patton has spent her entire career as a management-side labor and employment attorney, with an emphasis on employment litigation, wage and hour issues and corporate counseling. She has successfully represented clients before state and federal courts, administrative agencies, arbitration proceedings and mediations. She has handled a variety of employment-related cases, including class and collective action wage and hour matters and claims involving age, gender, race, religion, and disability discrimination, retaliation, and harassment. She also regularly counsels clients with respect to an array of employment issues, including:

  • Wage and hour issues
  • Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) obligations
  • Reductions-in-force
  • Employee discipline/termination
  • Discrimination and harassment issues
  • Internal investigations
  • Contract negotiations
  • Employee relations issues
  • Policies and handbooks
  • Pandemic and post-pandemic employment issues

Additionally, Shannon counsels corporations in virtually every line of business including:

  • Corporate
  • Education
  • Manufacturing
  • Real estate
  • Energy
  • Retail
  • Healthcare and home care
  • Hospitality
  • Service industry
  • Public sector
  • Nonprofits

In addition to private practice, Shannon has in-house corporate counsel experience. She served as senior labor and employment counsel at American Greetings, a Fortune 1000 company. This in-house experience gives Shannon a more practical and cost-sensitive perspective in advising clients.

Professional & Community Affiliations

Member

Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association

Member

Ohio State Bar Association

Member

American Bar Association

Founding Member

Irish American Law Society of Cleveland

2013-present

Member

Cleveland Employment American Inn of Court

2014-present

Member

Catholic Lawyers Guild

2019-present

Member, Board of Trustees

Premier Health and Safety Academy

2020-present

Member, Board of Regents

St. Ignatius High School

2021-present

Member, Board of Directors

Catholic Charities Diocese of Cleveland

2022-present

Member, Board of Trustees

Welcome House, Inc.

2006-2014

Member, Board of Trustees

Catholic Cemeteries Association, Diocese of Cleveland

2013-2021

Recognition

Named, The Best Lawyers in America®

2018-2024

Ranked, Labor & Employment

Chambers USA

2022-2023

Named, Most Influential Labor & Employment Lawyers in Ohio

Business Today

2023

Named, Irish Legal 100

2023

Awarded, Woman of Professional Excellence

YWCA

2010

Named, Rising Star

Ohio

Super Lawyers

2005, 2006, 2009

Books & Book Chapters

  • Wage and Hour Answer Book, Aspen Publishing, contributing author, 2009

Speaking Engagements

2023 Ohio Regional Employer Conference

Cleveland, OH

October 5, 2023

2022 Ohio Regional Employer Conference

Cleveland, OH

October 6, 2022

Kentucky Wage & Hour Update Live Training

Lexington, KY

March 16, 2022

Littler Home Care Webinar Series – November 2021 Legal Update

November 2, 2021

2021 Ohio Virtual Regional Employer Conference

October 14, 2021

The Legal Implications of the Wandering Worker

Cleveland, OH

July 23, 2021

The Next Normal: Getting Back to Business in Ohio

August 3, 2020

2019 Ohio Employer Conference

Cleveland, OH

October 10, 2019

A Timely Talk about Wage and Hour Law: DOL Proposals

June 11, 2019

2018 Ohio Regional Employer Conference

Cleveland, OH

October 18, 2018

Pay Equity: A Rapidly Expanding Frontier

Northern Ohio Industry Liasions Group

July 26, 2017

Predicting the Unpredictable: What the Trump Administration May Mean for Employers

IPMA-HR, Cleveland, OH

March 30, 2017

Effectively Communicating with In-House Counsel

15th Annual Northern Ohio Labor & Employment Law Conference, Labor and Employment Law Section - Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, Cleveland, OH

April 23, 2015

Armoring Employers Against FLSA Class Actions

2014 Ohio Employer Conference

Littler Mendelson, Warrensville Heights, OH

October 23, 2014

The Future of Contingent Workers

Association of Corporate Counsel, Northeast Ohio Chapter

September 18, 2014

Wage and Hour Issues in the Health Care Industry

Annual Meeting – Ohio Health Care Association (OHCA)

April 30, 2014

Who’s an Employee? Independent Contractors, Interns, Temporary and Contingent Workers

2013 Ohio Regional Employer Conference

Littler Mendelson, Cleveland, OH

October 24, 2013

Wage and Hour Issues in the Health Care Industry

Annual Meeting - Ohio Health Care Association

May 2, 2013

Ten Ways Employers Are – Inadvertently – Violating the FLSA

Ohio Employer Conference

Littler Mendelson, Cleveland, OH

October 25, 2012

Education

  • J.D., The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, 1998
  • B.A., Miami University, 1995Honors

Bar Admission

Ohio

Courts

  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, 6th Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan
  • U.S. District Court, Western District of Michigan