06 Apr 2026
McGuireWoods Strengthens Los Angeles Labor and Employment Team with Partner Leo Q. Li
"McGuireWoods hires labor and employment partner Leo Q. Li in Los Angeles to bolster its wage-and-hour class action and PAGA defense practice."
Li brings more than a decade of experience in wage-and-hour class action defense and representative actions under the California Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA). He practices in the labor and employment area and has defended domestic and foreign employers across a range of industries, including industrial manufacturing, distribution and logistics, education, insurance, aerospace, retail, restaurant, hotel, natural resources and professional environmental services. Li joins McGuireWoods from Seyfarth Shaw and is entering the firm as a partner.
Among his notable matters, Li helped defeat class certification in a consolidated series of wage-and-hour class and PAGA lawsuits brought by more than 25,000 delivery drivers against a California pizza company; the California Court of Appeal affirmed multiple trial court orders denying class certification and the California Supreme Court declined review in February 2025, ending the consolidated action after more than a decade of litigation.
Li’s recognitions include being named a Law360 Rising Star for employment law in 2025, a Daily Journal Top 40 Under 40 Lawyer in 2024, and a Best Lawyers in America One to Watch for management-side labor and employment law for three consecutive years.
Li’s arrival is part of McGuireWoods’ West Coast expansion. The firm notes a nationwide labor and employment practice that defends and resolves wage-and-hour class and collective actions for employers of all sizes and cites recent firm rankings in Chambers USA (2025) and Best Law Firms (2026).