Joelle Maryzelle Juarez

Joelle M. Juárez is a labor and employment attorney in Holland & Knight's Chicago office. Ms. Juárez defends employers in litigation and counsels them on day-to-day workplace matters, working with colleagues across the Firm's offices to support national clients.

Ms. Juárez handles discrimination, harassment and retaliation claims under Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and analogous state statutes in federal and state courts, as well as before the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and state civil rights and labor agencies. She also represents employers in wage-and-hour matters under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and related state laws. Her experience includes representing clients in the transportation and logistics, retail, manufacturing and nonprofit sectors, including national employers with unionized workforces.

In addition, Ms. Juárez advises employers on a wide range of workplace issues. She drafts employment, separation and severance agreements, restrictive covenant agreements and employee handbooks, and counsels employers regarding reductions in force, leave and accommodation matters, and wage-and-hour classification issues. She is fluent in Spanish and conducts investigations, employee interviews and manager trainings in both English and Spanish.

In addition to her legal practice, Ms. Juárez maintains a pro bono practice and has led litigation efforts that secured protective relief for a Chicago nonprofit organization.

Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Ms. Juárez handled employment matters from intake through resolution, including motions to dismiss and other dispositive briefing, written discovery, depositions, discovery motions, mediations and administrative charges. She has argued discovery motions before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and managed agency matters in Illinois and other jurisdictions. She also conducted internal workplace investigations and drafted position statements responding to charges of discrimination, helping employers build and preserve records for litigation and agency proceedings.

Previously, Ms. Juárez externed in the EEOC's Office of the Chair. She also completed externships for the Honorable Franklin U. Valderrama of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and the Honorable Jesse G. Reyes of the Illinois Appellate Court, First District.