Michael J Mueller

The largest part of my case load has been defending against wage-hour overtime class actions by employees. These cases are brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and sometimes state wage laws. I have been lead counsel in over 36 such cases against a major food-processing company, national restaurant chain, and clients in other industries. I have been lead trial counsel in 5 such cases and in an upcoming jury trial in an action brought by the US Secretary of Labor.

My focus is defending against class action cases, particularly wage-hour overtime and consumer product actions. In 2006 I was lead counsel for a major food-processing company in a jury trial involving 540 plaintiffs alleging unpaid wages; the case was listed in The National Law Journal's "Defense Hot List." In 2004 I was lead counsel in a bench trial involving 3,900 plaintiffs claiming unpaid overtime. I also have second-chaired a contracts trial involving three classes of airline pilots.

My substantive specialty is civil racketeering claims (RICO). I have chaired the ABA Antitrust Section's Civil RICO Committee, and the ABA Labor and Employment Law Section's Antitrust, RICO and Labor Law Committee. I am on the editorial boards of Civil RICO Report and RICO Law Reporter. I have written and spoken extensively about RICO, including appearances on CNN and PBS. I served as management chapter editor of “RICO and Labor Law” in the fourth edition of The Developing Labor Law.