Shellist Lazarz Slobin LLP

Focus and practice areas

Labor and employment law is the core of this firm's work. It opened in 1994 and runs offices in Houston and Dallas. The firm represents employees, executives, and employers, which means it sees workplace disputes from every side of the table. Representing both sides gives the firm a view of how employers and employees each build a case.

The contact page also lists personal injury among the firm's areas of work. Most of what the site describes is employment law, which the home and about pages lay out in detail.

The client list spreads across the workplace. A fired executive negotiating a stock option payout and an hourly worker chasing unpaid overtime both fit within what the firm handles.

The employment claims the firm takes on

Discrimination cases anchor the firm's employment docket. It also handles wrongful termination, sexual harassment, and retaliation. Sexual harassment claims can involve a single serious incident or a pattern of conduct that builds over time. Each type calls for its own evidence, such as personnel records and witness accounts.

The firm also takes retaliation and whistleblower matters. A retaliation case looks at what an employer did after a worker complained or filed a charge. A whistleblower claim starts when an employee reports illegal conduct and then faces consequences at the job. Both depend on the timeline between the report and the employer's response.

Pay and contract disputes

Money questions make up a large share of employment law. The firm handles wage and overtime claims, which often come down to how hours were recorded and how a job was classified. A worker labeled as exempt from overtime may in fact be owed it, and that turns on the actual duties of the role.

The firm also drafts and reviews employment contracts and severance agreements. These documents set the terms that later disputes tend to hang on. A severance agreement, for instance, often asks a departing employee to give up the right to sue in exchange for pay. Reviewing that language before a client signs is a core part of the work.

How these matters usually proceed

Many employment claims start at a government agency before they reach a court. A discrimination charge often begins with a filing at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The agency investigates, may offer mediation, and can issue a right to sue letter. Only then does the claim move into federal court.

Wage claims can follow a parallel track through the United States Department of Labor or the Texas Workforce Commission Civil Rights Division. Deadlines drive much of this. A charge filed late can lose value no matter how strong the underlying facts are, so early advice tends to shape what a worker can recover.

Most of these disputes settle before a trial. Mediation, demand letters, and negotiated exits resolve many claims once both sides see the evidence. A firm that handles both plaintiff and defense work brings a read on how the other side is likely to value a case.

Executive pay and class action work

Retirement benefits, stock options, and pensions fall under the firm's executive compensation work. This area also covers insurance, profit sharing, and health care benefits. Disputes of this kind often turn on the wording of a contract or a benefit plan, and the sums involved can be large.

The firm also brings nationwide class actions. These center on wage and hour disputes along with other employment matters. A class action gathers many workers with the same complaint into one case. That format fits unpaid overtime claims, since a single pay practice can affect an entire workforce at once.

Cases at that scale ask a lot of a firm. They involve notice to large groups, record management for many people, and the court's rules on certifying a class. A roster of several attorneys gives the firm the hands such work needs.

How the team is built

The attorneys page names eight lawyers. Three are founding partners: Martin A. Shellist, Mark Lazarz, and Todd Slobin. Their surnames make up the firm's name, so the people who started the firm in 1994 still lead it.

The rest of the roster shows a range of roles. Dorian Vandenberg-Rodes and Clark B. Will are partners. Daryl J. Sinkule is the managing partner of the Dallas office, and Jenny Mohr works of counsel. Bob Debes is listed as an attorney.

As a reviewer, I read a group of eight as large enough to run a class action and small enough for partners to stay close to each case. The site does not publish individual biographies or law schools, so a client would confirm a specific lawyer's background on a first call.

Where cases move

Two Texas offices give the firm its base. Houston holds the founding office, and Dallas has its own managing partner.That setup gives the firm a presence in two of the state's major legal markets and lets it take cases across the region.

The firm works through more than one venue. It uses negotiation, administrative proceedings, and litigation in state and federal courts. It appears before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the United States Department of Labor, and the Texas Workforce Commission Civil Rights Division. Each of those agencies runs its own process, with its own deadlines and forms.

Two offices also help with reach. A worker in the Dallas area and one near Houston can each find the firm without traveling across the state. For a class action that draws members from many cities, that footprint helps with meetings and filings.

What the record shows

The firm's site keeps its claims plain and checkable. It states the 1994 founding year, names each attorney with a title, and lists the practice areas and both office locations. A reader gets a clear map of what the firm does and who does it.

In my opinion, the clearest signal here is longevity paired with range. The firm has operated since 1994, it works both sides of the employment relationship, and it handles both single wage claims and nationwide class actions. Those are facts a person with a workplace problem can check before picking up the phone.