Margaret L. Watson is a highly experienced employment law trial attorney who has successfully represented clients in federal and state courts as well as in arbitrations (FINRA, AAA, JAMS), and agency proceedings. She serves as a co-chair of the firm’s Financial Services Group and its FINRA Arbitration Team.
Margaret regularly defends employers and individual managers in cases involving discrimination and retaliation claims under Title VII, Section 1981, ADA, ADEA, FMLA, and related New York State and City laws, as well as claims of violations of Dodd Frank and New York State’s whistleblower laws. Representative cases during her extensive career also include claims of fraud, breach of contract, defamation (including U-5 defamation), tortious interference, as well as the review and enforcement of restrictive covenants.
Margaret’s practice includes counseling clients on litigation-avoidance strategies and risk management. She assists clients with investigations and policy audits, including pay equity reviews. She has substantial experience with strategic initiatives around increasing diversity in the workplace and she is dedicated to partnering with clients to proactively prevent employment claims and enhance employee performance.
Prior to joining Littler, Margaret was the sole employment law counsel for the New York City office of a large East Coast regional law firm. Margaret previously served as inhouse counsel to a global wealth management firm, and she successfully designed and managed the first corporate ombudsman office for the U.S. broker-dealer business of that company.
Margaret began her career as a law clerk to the Hon. Whitman Knapp in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, and has practiced in the areas of securities law and white-collar criminal defense. She also previously served as a partner in a law firm where she represented employees as plaintiffs in discrimination matters. She is a trained mediator and has served as a trained neutral.