Cheryl D. Orr

As the leader of Faegre Drinker's international labor and employment practice with over 100 lawyers and legal staff, Cheryl D. Orr is passionate about negotiating the best outcomes for her clients.

Orr has a roster of big-name clients across a variety of industries for complex wage and hour class, collective and Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) actions, as well as complex cases headed for trial. She's also frequently hired to conduct sensitive, high-profile human resource investigations, and is sometimes even hired by other law firms to investigate the claims they plan to defend.

In the past year, Orr conducted six investigations involving allegations of sexual and racial harassment, whistle-blowing and discrimination in academia and business with bet-the-company potential consequences.

Orr said her work sometimes involves working with her clients to make long-term, companywide changes for the better.

"We not only want to see excellent results, but we want to drive a result that our client feels good about," she said. "We want them to reach their goals and leave them in a better place than when we were first engaged."

For nearly two decades, Orr has defended wage and hour class and collective actions and is defending about a dozen such actions at any time, along with her team. She has a reputation for resolving matters early and expeditiously, though Orr said she doesn't "just tee up cases to settle," and works with her clients.

In a recent example, Orr was retained to defend a software company in a wage and hour PAGA suit. Orr convinced the plaintiff's attorney that the company was not a co-employer and the case was dismissed in December 2021. Angela Duran v. Allegis Global Solutions Inc. et al. CGC-20-587209 (San Fran. Sup. Ct., filed October 7, 2020).

Orr said she loves practicing law, but also enjoys her leadership roles within her firm.

"I enjoy the business of law, but part of the business is the people, and if you manage your people right, your business falls into place," she said.

- Kelly Puente