Chair of Winston & Strawn’s Labor & Employment Practice, Michael Roche represents employers in complex employment and benefits litigation and employment counseling. He was named one of the country’s “Top 100 Employment Lawyers” by Lawdragon and Human Resources Executive. Roche serves as lead employment counsel to many clients, including some of the world’s largest professional services firms and financial firms.
Over his more than 30-year career, Roche has represented employers in numerous class action and multi-plaintiff suits involving allegations of discrimination, wage and hour law violations, breach of fiduciary duty, and ERISA claims. Roche also represents employers in executive compensation disputes and often counsels companies and their boards of directors in managing senior executive employment, separations, negotiations, internal investigations and similar matters.
Lawdragon Honors
| Honor | Year | Practice |
|---|---|---|
| The 2026 Lawdragon 500 Leading Corporate Employment Lawyers | 2026 | Labor & Employment, esp. Litigation |
| The 2025 Lawdragon 500 Leading Corporate Employment Lawyers | 2025 | Labor & Employment, esp. Litigation |
| The 2024 Lawdragon 500 Corporate Employment Lawyers | 2024 | Labor & Employment, esp. Litigation |
| Lawdragon Releases Latest Guide to the Leading Corporate Employment Lawyers in America | 2022 | Labor & Employment, esp. Litigation |
| Lawdragon's Leading Corporate Employment Lawyers of America | 2021 | Labor & Employment, esp. Litigation |
| Lawdragon 500 Leading U.S. Corporate Employment Lawyers | 2020 | Labor & Employment, esp. Litigation |
| 2019 Most Powerful Corporate Employment Lawyers | 2019 | Labor & Employment, esp. Litigation |
| 2018 Most Powerful Corporate Employment Lawyers | 2018 | Labor & Employment, esp. Litigation |
Roche has litigated many restrictive covenant, competition, and trade secret cases and represents employers and fiduciaries in Department of Labor and EEOC investigations. Roche has successfully led and won jury trials, bench trials, injunction hearings, arbitrations, and appellate arguments on behalf of his clients in these areas.
Roche also has an extensive counseling practice, in which he provides proactive counseling to help clients manage their employment function properly and lower the risk of litigation and regulatory issues.