Miriam McKendall

Miriam J. McKendall is an attorney in Holland & Knight's Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice and is a member of the firm's Labor, Employment and Benefits Group. Ms. McKendall is a member of and serves as co-chair of the firm's National Education Team. She concentrates her practice in employment law, education law and related litigation.

Ms. McKendall counsel clients on legal compliance on workplace issues, including workplace laws and policies concerning anti-discrimination, sexual harassment, disability accommodations, medical leaves, employee exempt and non-exempt status, wage issues, employment agreements, employee safety, reductions-in-force and employee separations.

Ms. McKendall defends clients in employment and education related litigation and agency proceedings, such as claims of discrimination and retaliation, non-payment of wages, employee misclassification, tort claims and breach of contract claims. She defends clients in matters pending in state and federal court, as well as state and federal agencies, such as the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD), U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and U.S. Department of Education (ED). Ms. McKendall also works closely with clients to assess and navigate threatened claims to avoid litigation and pending claims to contain exposure by developing strategies to achieve early and effective resolutions of disputes. She leads clients through complex negotiations and resolution of claims involving high level personnel, reputational issues and high media exposure. Ms. McKendall's work includes sensitive workplace investigations, ranging from advising clients as they conduct internal investigations to developing investigation protocols, leading investigation teams and conducting comprehensive investigations. Ms. McKendall works with the client team in addressing investigation outcomes, including formulating plans for remediation and effective communication strategies.

Ms. McKendall also serves as outside counsel for educational institutions and provides advice on a broad range of education-related matters, including in the areas of student discipline, student disability, student privacy, Title IX and sexual misconduct matters, campus security and tenure and faculty governance issues. Ms. McKendall advises presidents and boards of educational institutions on matters with high impact on reputation and operations.

Ms. McKendall partners with client leadership on crisis management issues in order to align legal strategies to best serve the mission and objectives of the client. Ms. McKendall frequently presents to leadership personnel on legal obligations, student and academic matters, policy development and compliance.