Helenanne Connolly

Helen is a seasoned practitioner serving as a trusted advisor on her clients’ most sensitive, complex and high-stakes matters daily, with a special emphasis on helping emerging companies build and develop their workforces and assisting public company boards in managing executive crises. She has an extensive counseling and disputes practice, representing companies at every stage of growth on a broad range of employment-related issues, including counseling, litigation and transactional matters. Every year, Helen assists hundreds of companies across numerous industries – such as government contracts, private equity, venture capital, fintech, edtech, adtech, insurtech, blockchain and tokenization technology, life sciences, sports, media and entertainment, consumer goods, and health and beauty – in navigating complex employment matters.

Helen’s work includes executive separations, hiring and negotiations, disciplinary actions, reorganizations, internal training programs, reductions in force, individual and group termination decisions, Fair Labor Standards Act compliance, misclassification analyses, accommodation of employee disabilities and medical leaves, equal employment opportunity training, and compliance with affirmative action plans and collective bargaining agreements. She routinely leads internal investigations into harassment and discrimination claims and negotiates complex employment, noncompete and separation agreements.

Helen also supports her clients by providing advice and counsel on all employment-related aspects of complex transactions – including mergers and acquisitions (buy-side and sell-side), financings, spinoffs, divestitures, and initial public offerings – for clients ranging from emerging companies to large institutional buyers. She routinely assists with the negotiation of definitive agreements, advises buyers on due diligence risks and liabilities, helps sellers navigate a buyer’s due diligence process, structures employee retention arrangements, and helps with employee post-transaction integration.

Helen is a thought leader who regularly publishes compelling content and presents at internal and external events and continuing legal education courses. An active participant in civic life, she served as chair of the Arlington County Commission on Human Rights and was an appointed commissioner for more than a decade. In this role, she was a critical resource in drafting groundbreaking legislative items related to complex employment issues.

Helen also has extensive experience litigating complex disputes in state and federal courts, where she defends employers against claims alleging race, age, disability, and sex discrimination; retaliation; sexual harassment; wrongful discharge; violations of wage and hour laws; misappropriation of trade secrets; commission of business torts; and breach of contract. Additionally, she has successfully brought business tort claims on behalf of companies and partnerships. Helen is also experienced in defending employers against charges of discrimination at the administrative agency level.