Steven D. "Steve" Brown

Steven D. Brown is a Partner at IslerDare PC. Prior to joining the Firm and opening the Richmond office in June 2015, Steve was a partner with LeClair Ryan and Williams Mullen. Steve is the current Chair of the Virginia Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law Section.

Steve understands the business operations of the private and public employers he represents and he provides creative strategies to manage labor, employment and business issues. He has over thirty years of experience in defending employers in a variety of industries in cases under various federal and state labor and employment laws before administrative agencies, state and federal courts, and before arbitration panels all over the United States. His practice includes defending employers in single plaintiff, multi-plaintiff, collective actions, and class actions. With cases either decided favorably at the summary judgment stage before trial or obtaining a favorable verdict after a jury or bench trial, Steve is an experienced and effective trial lawyer. He has also successfully argued appeals before the Second, Fourth, and Eleventh Circuit Courts of Appeals as well as before the Connecticut Supreme Court and the Supreme Court of Virginia. He also provides daily legal and strategic advice related to all labor and employment issues, including, but not limited to, hiring, employment agreements, wage and hour, progressive discipline, performance evaluations, investigations, leave issues under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, FMLA and ADA, workplace safety issues, termination of employment, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, trade secrets, non-competition, non-solicitation, and confidentiality covenants, severance and release agreements, employment and business related tort claims, workplace violence issues, labor and employment law audits, and labor and employment due diligence. Steve has written numerous articles and lectured on a local, regional and national level on a variety of labor and employment law subjects. Steve is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Richmond and the Chancellor for the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church.

In the community, Steve provides mentoring to the James Madison University football program by working with players that are preparing for life after college football within the applicable NCAA guidelines. He is the Chair of the Virginia Bar Association’s Labor & Employment Law Section. He is a member of the Dean’s Ambassadors Circle for the School of Professional and Continuing Studies at the University of Richmond.