Doug Hall has represented clients in every aspect of labor management relations for more than 30 years, from responding to union organizing drives to collective bargaining to arbitration of grievances. He is recognized as one of the leading management-side lawyers representing airlines and airline service providers under the Railway Labor Act (RLA). He also represents clients in sophisticated litigation involving such issues as threatened strikes, Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), AIR21 whistleblower claims, and the RLA's jurisdictional scope.
Doug represents clients of all shapes and sizes before courts and administrative agencies in matters involving the RLA, the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), and other statutes. In 2017, for example, he obtained a favorable decision from the D.C. Circuit regarding the manner in which the National Mediation Board (NMB) and National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) determine whether service providers are subject to the RLA. In 2015, he obtained an order enjoining a threatened pilot strike against Allegiant Air. Doug also regularly appears before the NMB in union representation matters, including those involving whether multiple airlines constitute a single carrier for representation purposes. In addition, Doug counsels clients on labor and employment issues engendered by contemplated corporate transactions and on efforts by employers in bankruptcy to reject their union contracts.
Doug is co-editor-in-chief of The Railway Labor Act. He often speaks at conferences on labor and employment issues and is a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. In 2017, Doug was named Washington, D.C. labor law — management "Lawyer of the Year" by Best Lawyers in America.
Experiencia
The following represents experience acquired prior to joining Jones Day.
Successfully argued an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit of a district court decision preliminary enjoining an airline from making changes to the wages and working conditions of its pilots during negotiations with their union.
Obtained a preliminary injunction prohibiting the pilots of an airline from striking over alleged violations of the status quo during contract negotiations.
Obtained dismissal of a putative class action against an airline for violation of California wage and hour statutes on the ground that the claims were preempted by the RLA.
Filed an action seeking to enjoin a threatened strike by non-union employees of an airline service provider over Thanksgiving, which resulted in an agreement between the parties under which no strike occurred.
Obtained a preliminary injunction prohibiting non-union employees of an airline service provider from carrying out a threatened strike that, if successful, could have shut down operations at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. On appeal, argued the case before both a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and before that court sitting en banc.
Successfully represented two commonly owned cargo/charter airlines before the NMB with respect to petitions alleging that the carriers constituted a single transportation system for representation purposes.
Oversaw a team of attorneys in assisting a major air carrier with an organizing election among its passenger service employees.
- April 25, 2018
Pilot Retention: Contracts, Loans, Bonuses - will they hold up? Regional Air Cargo Carriers Association (RCCA) Conference - November 12, 2017
ABA Section of Labor & Employment Law 11th Annual Conference - January 26 - 27, 2017
2017 Airline and Railway Labor and Employment Roundtable
- Georgetown University (J.D. magna cum laude 1989; Order of the Coif; Georgetown Law Journal); University of Pittsburgh (B.A. summa cum laude 1985)
- District of Columbia, Ohio, U.S. Supreme Court, and U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fourth, Sixth, Seventh, Ninth, and District of Columbia Circuits
The Best Lawyers in America (2011-2025) (labor and employment law — management, including 2017 Washington D.C. labor law — management "Lawyer of the Year")
Management chair, Railway & Airline Labor Law Committee, ABA Section of Labor & Employment Law (2019-2021)
Editor-in-Chief, The Railway Labor Act (Bloomberg)
Fellow, College of Labor and Employment Lawyers
BTI Client Service All-Star (2012)
Named as a Thomson Reuters Stand-out Lawyer (February 2022)