About Shennan

Shennan Harris is a leading employment lawyer who helps employers solve – and prevent – problems through efficient, effective and personalized representation and counseling.

She is recognized for her deep expertise in two of the most complex and fast-moving areas of employment law: multistate compliance and artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace.

Multistate Employment Law

Shennan is one of the foremost practitioners advising employers on the challenges of operating across multiple states and jurisdictions. She has spent years tracking and analyzing the rapidly evolving landscape of state and local employment laws – including paid sick leave, minimum wage, restrictive covenants, antidiscrimination protections and pay transparency requirements – and translating that knowledge into practical, actionable guidance for employers. She developed a comprehensive 50-state handbook supplement tailored for multistate employers, and is a regular contributor to the Employment Law Worldview blog, where she authors the widely-read State Law Roundup series. Multistate employers across industries rely on Shennan to cut through the complexity and keep them compliant.

AI and Employment Law

As employers increasingly turn to AI in hiring, performance management and workforce decisions, Shennan is at the forefront of advising on the legal and compliance implications. She helps employers understand and navigate the growing body of federal, state and local AI regulations – including algorithmic bias requirements, transparency obligations and emerging enforcement activity – and develop policies and practices that allow them to harness the benefits of AI while managing legal risk.

Employer Counseling and Contracts

Shennan counsels employers of all sizes on the full spectrum of federal, state and local employment law, including hiring, termination, wage and hour compliance, FMLA, ADA, federal contractor obligations, and employee handbooks and policies. She regularly reviews, drafts and negotiates all types of employment-related contracts – including executive agreements, restrictive covenant agreements, separation agreements and contractor agreements.

Litigation

When disputes arise, Shennan represents clients in complex employment litigation, including class and collective actions, in state and federal trial and appellate courts and before administrative agencies. She excels at thinking creatively to resolve tough problems efficiently, always keeping her clients’ business goals and risk tolerance in mind.

Corporate Transactions

Shennan serves as a trusted employment lawyer on mergers and acquisitions, advising deal teams and clients on the full range of employment-related issues that arise throughout the transaction life cycle – from early due diligence through post-closing integration. Throughout every stage, Shennan provides candid, business-minded counsel on employment risk – helping clients understand what they are taking on, what can be negotiated and how to structure the deal to protect their interests.

Experience

  • Successfully obtained dismissal of restrictive covenant lawsuit for client former employee based upon lack of personal jurisdiction.
  • Successfully defended district court’s grant of summary judgment for client employer upon appeal to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
  • Obtained summary judgment for employer in employer intentional tort case.
  • Representing employers in employment discrimination litigation in federal court.
  • Developed 50-state handbook supplement that can be tailored for multistate employers across the US.
  • Representing employers in multi-plaintiff wage and hour disputes.

Credentials

Education
  • University of Chicago, J.D., 2006
  • Wittenberg University, B.A., magna cum laude, 1999
Admissions
  • Ohio, 2014
  • Illinois, 2006
Courts
  • U.S. Ct. of App., Seventh Circuit
  • U.S. Ct. of App., Sixth Circuit
  • U.S. Dist. Ct., N. Dist. of Illinois
  • U.S. Dist. Ct., S. Dist. of Ohio
  • U.S. Dist. Ct., N. Dist. of Ohio
Memberships & Affiliations
  • President, Ohio Women’s Bar Association

  • Graduate of the Ohio Women’s Bar Foundation’s Leadership Institute, Class of 2016-17

Recognitions

  • Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America 2021, 2023 and 2025: Ones to Watch for Alternative Dispute Resolution, Commercial Litigation and Litigation – Labor and Employment
  • Awarded the Ohio Women’s Bar Association President’s Choice Award, 2022

Publications & Speaking Engagements

Publications

  • Co-author, “Wages and Hours – An Employer’s Guide,” American Chamber of Commerce Resources, LLC, 2024.
  • Co-author, “Wages and Hours – An Employer’s Guide,” American Chamber of Commerce Resources, LLC, 2022.
  • Co-author, “State Law Round-Up: Year End Edition (Part 2 of 2),” Employment Law Worldview Blog, December 28, 2021.
  • Co-author, “State Law Round-Up: Year End Edition (Part 1 of 2),” Employment Law Worldview Blog, December 27, 2021.
  • Co-author, “Spring State Law Round-Up (CT, IL, OH, NY, PA, DC)” Employment Law Worldview Blog, March 18, 2021.
  • Co-author, “State Law Round-Up: Year End Edition – PART TWO (Illinois – Washington DC)” Employment Law Worldview Blog, December 17, 2020.
  • Co-author, “State Law Round-Up: Year End Edition – PART ONE (California – Hawaii)” Employment Law Worldview Blog, December 15, 2020.
  • Co-author, “Top 10 Employment and Employee Benefit Issues in US Bankruptcy Cases” Employment Law Worldview Blog, May 19, 2020.
  • Co-author, “State Law Round-Up: COVID-19 State and Local Paid Sick Leave Law Developments” Employment Law Worldview Blog, April 21, 2020.
  • Co-author, “State Law Round-Up: Philadelphia’s Salary History Ban Upheld and More!” Employment Law Worldview Blog, February 12, 2020.
  • Co-author, “Year-End State Law Roundup: Get Ready for 2020!” Employment Law Worldview Blog, December 4, 2019.
  • Co-author, “Minneapolis Employers – Heads Up! City gives two days’ notice to comply with new sick leave rules”, Employment Law Worldview Blog, July 1, 2019.
  • Co-author, “State Law Round-Up: Paid Leave Proliferation (CT, ME, MA, NV, DC) and Minimum Wage Update!” Employment Law Worldview Blog, June 13, 2019.
  • Co-author, “State Law Round-Up: Developments in Wage and Hour (CO, MA, ME, WA), Non-Compete (WA), Commuter Benefits (NJ), Sexual Harassment (DE) and Sick Leave (Dallas and Minneapolis Laws)”, Employment Law Worldview Blog, May 20, 2019.
  • Co-author, “State Law Round-Up: Minimum Wage Hikes (MD, NM, CA); Kentucky Pregnant Workers Act; New Jersey Employee Rights; New York Voting Leave; Salary History Bans (OH, NM)”, Employment Law Worldview Blog, April 17, 2019.
  • Co-author, “State Law Round-Up: Minimum Wage Hikes (IL, NJ, CA, NM); Michigan Paid Sick Leave; New York Employee Rights, New Jersey Leave and Benefits Expansion”, Employment Law Worldview Blog, March 10, 2019.
  • Co-author, “State Law Round-Up: 2019 Minimum Wage Rates, Paid Sick Leave Developments and More,” Employment Law Worldview Blog, January 4, 2019.
  • Co-author, “Eyes and Ears on the FLSA – U.S. Department of Labor Issues New Opinion Letters and Schedules Public Listening Sessions,” Employment Law Worldview Blog, September 5, 2018.
  • Author, “State Law Round-Up: New Sick Leave, Sexual Harassment Laws and Other State Law Developments (MA, MD, MN, NJ, NYC, TX, VT),” Employment Law Worldview Blog, August 23, 2018.
  • Author, “New Jersey Sick Leave Patchwork Mended – Statewide Law Passed!” Employment Law Worldview Blog, May 3, 2018.
  • Author, “Maryland Sick Leave Scramble: Get Ready, Get Your Policies Set, Go!” Employment Law Worldview Blog, February 8, 2018.
  • Co-author, “Wages and Hours – An Employer’s Guide,” American Chamber of Commerce Resources, LLC, 2017.
  • Co-author, “Ohio Employer Alert: Weapons Policy Review Needed; No Local Sick Leave,” Employment Law Worldview Blog, January 10, 2017.
  • Author, “State Law Round-Up: 2017 Minimum Wage Rates, Paid Sick Leave Compliance, and More,” Employment Law Worldview Blog, December 20, 2016.
  • Author, “US Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Act: Injunction Granted!” Employment Law Worldview Blog, October 27, 2016.
  • Author, “FLSA OT Rule: Six Month Reprieve? US House Votes Yes,” Employment Law Worldview Blog, September 29, 2016.
  • Author, “OSHA to Employers: No Gagging Whistleblowers!” Employment Law Worldview Blog, September 21, 2016.
  • Author, “State Law Roundup: Illinois’ New Leave Laws and Non-compete Warning; Sick Leave Comes to Berkeley and St. Paul,” Employment Law Worldview Blog, September 13, 2016.
  • Co-author, “EEOC Gives Employers Extra Time to File EEO-1 Pay Data Reports,” Employment Law Worldview Blog, July 13, 2016.
  • Author, “BREAKING: Chicago Catches Sick Leave Fever,” Employment Law Worldview Blog, June 22, 2016.
  • Author, “Sick of These Updates Yet? The Latest Sick Leave and Minimum Wage News (Minneapolis, San Francisco, San Diego, OR),” Employment Law Worldview Blog, June 8, 2016.
  • Author, “It’s All the Wage! Historic Minimum Wage Increases in California and New York; New York Institutes 12-Week Paid Family Leave,” Employment Law Worldview Blog, April 4, 2016.
  • Author, “Sick Leave and Minimum Wage Update: Oregon, Vermont, Santa Monica,” Employment Law Worldview Blog, March 3, 2016.
  • Author, “DOL Issues Proposed Rule Implementing Executive Order on Paid Sick Leave For Federal Contractors,” Employment Law Worldview Blog, February 25, 2016.
  • Author, “Sick Leave Update: Spokane Has Spoken and Other Sick Leave News,” Employment Law Worldview Blog, January 21, 2016.

Speaking Engagements

  • Moderator, “Preparing for Aging: Surviving the Sandwich Generation,” Ohio Women’s Bar Association and Toledo Women’s Bar Association Webinar, February 23, 2022.
  • Presenter, “State Law Roundup Breakout Session,” Squire Patton Boggs US Labor & Employment Webinar Week, February 4, 2021.
  • Presenter, “Cutting Through the Haze: Substance Abuse Policies in Today’s Workplace,” Squire Patton Boggs Columbus Labor & Employment Seminar, October 22, 2019.
  • Presenter, “Leaves and Accommodations in the Real World,” Squire Patton Boggs Columbus Labor & Employment Seminar, September 18, 2018.
  • Presenter, “Keeping Up With Employment Laws,” Squire Patton Boggs Columbus Labor & Employment Seminar, September 18, 2018.
  • Presenter, “Employment Hot Topics Family Feud,” Squire Patton Boggs Columbus Labor & Employment Seminar, October 25, 2017.
  • Presenter, “I’ll Take Labor and Employment for 1,000, Alex,” Squire Patton Boggs Columbus Labor & Employment Seminar, October 25, 2017.
  • Presenter, “Information Overload: Managing Employee Leaves,” Squire Patton Boggs Columbus Labor & Employment Seminar, October 11, 2016.
  • Presenter, “Time to Talk Overtime: New Fair Labor Standards Act Rules and Some Existing Rules to Live By,” Ohio Association of School Board Officials Treasurers’ Clinics, September 13 and 29, 2016.