Nicole S. LeFave

Nicole S. LeFave concentrates her practice on defending employers in complex wage and hour class and collective action litigation and counseling employers on all aspects of wage and hour compliance. Nicole also defends employers in a variety of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and whistleblower matters and advises on a broad range of employment law issues, from hiring through termination. She has experience representing clients at trial, on appeal, in arbitration, and in administrative hearings both in Texas and nationwide.

Representative experience:

• Obtained victory for employer in FLSA collective action bench trial involving the Motor Carrier Act exemption
• Served as one of the lead attorneys on mass arbitration of single-claimant gig-economy misclassification claims involving more than 15,000 claimants
• Defeated a motion for conditional certification in proposed nationwide FLSA collective action against a Fortune 500 company
• Obtained complete summary judgment in favor of employer on single-plaintiff Title VII and FLSA matter
• Successfully defended a jury trial verdict in favor of employer in multiple-plaintiff discrimination case, obtaining affirmance from the Fifth Circuit

Nicole serves as co-chair of Littler’s SOAR mentorship program, which pairs associates who are new to the firm with shareholder mentors to support associates’ long-term success at the firm. Nicole is also the Austin office’s pro bono liaison and enjoys finding opportunities to contribute to access to justice, including by advising local nonprofits on employment law matters.

Before joining Littler, Nicole practiced complex business litigation and employment law, representing corporations, nonprofit organizations and individuals on a wide range of matters on both the plaintiff and defense side.

Nicole served as a law clerk for retired judge Hon. Gregg Costa, formerly a U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Texas and Fifth Circuit Justice and Hon. Mark Lane, U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Texas.