Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2024 
Joan McKenna defends employers faced with discrimination, retaliation, and wage and hour litigation under Title VII, the ADEA, the ADA, FLSA, FMLA, and state employment statutes. Joan’s ability to translate complex regulatory requirements into practical workplace policies and workable strategies that prevent litigation is second to none in the region. Her approach to dispute resolution combines aggressive courtroom advocacy with preventive counseling that reduces exposure, a balance refined through years representing clients in high-stakes disputes, trials, and administrative proceedings.
Employers value that Joan doesn’t just react to claims—she identifies compliance gaps before agencies do and advises on documentation systems that can withstand scrutiny. Joan’s litigation style is methodical, discrete, and unrelenting. She dismantles plaintiff cases by mastering the factual record early, identifying inconsistencies that undermine credibility, and building defenses around contemporaneous documentation rather than post-hoc explanations. Opposing counsel quickly learns she doesn’t concede ground on discovery or let weak claims survive to settlement discussions.
Joan’s employment practice extends beyond litigation defense. She speaks regularly to employer groups on emerging compliance issues and served as contributing editor to the Virginia Employment Law Letter, giving her insight into regulatory trends before they hit the courts. That forward-looking perspective helps clients stay ahead of enforcement patterns rather than scrambling to respond. Joan’s counsel reflects what she’s learned from thousands of workplace disputes: the policies that survive legal challenges aren’t the most elaborate – they’re the ones employees understand and managers consistently enforce.
