Wiley Wheeler, P.C.

Who the firm represents

This Houston employment firm works on one side of the workplace relationship. It represents workers who bring claims against the companies that employ them. That single focus tells a prospective client a good deal before the first phone call.

Employee-side work shapes how a firm runs a case. The client is usually the individual, not the company with the larger legal budget. As a reviewer, I find it helpful when a firm states that focus openly, because a worker can see at a glance that the office handles cases like theirs.

Court cases and agency claims

The firm's lawyers take disputes into both state and federal court in Texas. That means they prepare cases for trial and argue in front of judges. It also means they can file in whichever forum fits a given claim. Working in both forums gives the firm room to match a claim to the court where it belongs.

Much employment work starts at a government agency. The firm appears before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Department of Labor, and the Texas Workforce Commission. A worker often has to file a charge with one of these bodies before a lawsuit can proceed, so the agency stage is where many claims begin. A firm that handles both the charge and the later suit keeps one team on the matter through both stages.

Agency filings run on deadlines, and missing one can end a claim before it reaches a courtroom. A firm that works these bodies often keeps track of those dates, which is one reason a worker gains from calling a lawyer early.

The practice areas

Employment law covers a wide set of problems, and the firm's list touches most of the common ones. It handles discrimination claims and sexual harassment claims, along with hostile work environment matters where the conduct at issue continues over time. It takes wrongful termination and retaliation cases, which come up when a worker is fired or punished after raising a complaint. Each of these is a recognized cause of action under state or federal employment law.

On the pay side, the firm works on unpaid wages and overtime disputes, the kind of claim that turns on hours worked and how they were counted. It also handles family and medical leave under the FMLA, which protects certain time off, along with severance and noncompete agreements and workplace safety questions. That mix reaches the moment a job ends and the terms a worker signs at the start.

These claim types often travel together. A discrimination case can carry a retaliation claim when a worker speaks up and then loses shifts or a promotion. A firing can raise a severance question at the same time. Keeping this range under one roof means a client does not need a second office when a case grows a new branch.

How the team is built

The site for Wiley Wheeler, P.C. names five attorneys. Robert J. Wiley and Kalandra N. Wheeler are both Board Certified in Labor and Employment Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. That certification comes from a Texas state board and marks a formal focus in labor and employment law. Wheeler is also the attorney listed as responsible for the firm's website.

The three other named lawyers are Areyana Gilbert, Madeline Garza, and Jermaine Brown. Garza attended South Texas College of Law. Brown attended the University of Houston Law Center, a school in the same city where the firm practices. The site names each of them as an employment lawyer, which points to a team that shares one focus.

In my opinion, a group of five with two board certified partners has enough hands to staff a case and enough seniority to guide it. That two of the named lawyers carry the same board certification points to a shared and sustained focus on employment work. That structure, two certified partners alongside three more employment lawyers, is a common and workable shape for a firm of this size. For a client, the value of that setup is continuity: the same lawyers who open a matter can see it through.

Where the firm works

The office sits in the Montrose and Museum District area of Houston. That area is one of Houston's central neighborhoods. From there, the firm takes cases across Southeast Texas.

Its stated service area covers Harris, Montgomery, Brazoria, Fort Bend, and Galveston counties. That takes in Houston along with the suburbs and the coastal communities to the south. A firm that appears often in these local courts learns how a given judge or agency office tends to handle an employment claim, and that read can shape the advice a client gets early on. For a worker deciding whether a case is worth pursuing, local knowledge of this kind has real weight.

The firm runs its work from that one Houston base. Its employment cases, whether a harassment charge or an overtime dispute, move through the courts and agencies of that region. The two board certified partners and three other named attorneys are the people who handle them.