Emery Richards is a litigation associate with a focus on employment, trade secret, and commercial matters. Emery has experience representing businesses in the energy, maritime, manufacturing, chemical, software, real estate, healthcare, professional sports, staffing, pharmaceutical, and food and beverage industries, as well as governmental entities and officials. She has participated in all aspects of litigation, including trial, motions practice, discovery, and appeal.
Emery routinely counsels organizations on employment law compliance, provides guidance to entities evaluating labor and employment aspects of business transactions, and conducts internal investigations and training programs in the workplace. Emery litigates and advises clients on all aspects of employment and trade secret law, including:
- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
- Americans with Disabilities Act
- Family and Medical Leave Act
- Fair Labor Standards Act
- Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act
- Age Discrimination in Employment Act
- Texas Worker’s Compensation Act
- Texas Commission on Human Rights Act
- Texas Payday Law
- Chapter 21 of the Texas Labor Code
- Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act
- Defend Trade Secrets Act
- Occupational Safety and Health Act
- Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
Emery regularly works on a variety of general civil litigation matters involving causes of action for breach of contract, fraud, negligence, and nuisance, in addition to jurisdictional challenges, among others. These disputes include controversies related to commercial agreements, trade secret misappropriation, bankruptcy, chemical exposure, environmental contamination, workplace injuries and fatalities, maritime contracts, shipping disputes, and other contested issues. She has experience with proceedings in state and federal court at both the trial and appellate level, as well as before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Texas Workforce Commission, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
During law school, she spent a year as a visiting student at the University of Houston Law Center and served as a field reports editor for the Columbia Journal of Environmental Law. Emery is fluent in Spanish.
Outside the Firm
Emery is a co-chair of the Houston Bar Association’s Gender Fairness Committee and a member of the Houston Young Lawyers Association. As part of her commitment to pro bono service, she provides employment counsel to Houston’s largest direct services provider to the homeless community. Emery and her spouse, Neal, have two children.