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 counsels clients on legal compliance on workplace issues, including laws and policies concerning anti-discrimination, sexual harassment, disability accommodations, medical leaves, employee exempt and non-exempt status, wage issues, executive 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, as well as to manage and defend pending claims to contain exposure by developing strategies to achieve early and effective resolutions. She works with clients facing complex situations to identify and implement strategies for solving matters involving high level personnel, reputational issues and elevated 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 client teams in addressing investigation outcomes, including formulating plans for remediation and effective communication strategies. She advises senior leadership and boards regarding assessments, outcomes, and recommendations.

Ms. McKendall also serves as outside counsel for educational institutions and provides advice on a broad range of matters, including in the areas of student discipline, Title IX and sexual misconduct matters, campus security, disability accommodations, regulatory matters, employment laws, policy development, tenure and faculty governance, and board governance.

Ms. McKendall partners with and advises client leadership and boards on crisis management issues and matters with significant impact on reputation and operations, in order to align strategies and action plans to achieve legal compliance and to best serve the mission and objectives of the client.