Vanessa Griffith

Practice Areas

Griffith represents and advises employers in all aspects of employment law, including internal client investigations. Her work often focuses on sensitive, high-level employment disputes involving senior executives or board members. Vanessa draws upon her deep experience to devise solutions that balance the needs of various constituents with the interests of her clients.

Vanessa also assists clients in drafting executive employment and severance agreements, non-competition agreements, and company-wide arbitration programs. She has advised companies in an array of industries, including insurance, finance, construction, oil and gas, health, and retail. She handles pro bono employment matters as well and has worked with numerous nonprofit organizations and charities.

Vanessa has a background in litigation, having acted as first-chair on trials and appeals involving a wide variety of claims including discrimination, harassment and retaliation claims, collective actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), unfair competition and trade secret litigation, and various ERISA matters.

Vanessa’s experience as a clerk with the Southern District of Texas shaped the way she approaches counseling clients about employment litigation. During her clerkship, she interviewed juries after each trial, providing her valuable insights into how juries decide cases.

Career

Admitted to practice: 1994. Law clerk to the Honorable David Hittner, United States District Judge, Southern District of Texas: 1994 - 1996. Joined Vinson & Elkins, 1996; admitted to partnership, 2004.

Personal

Rice University, BA, 1988. University of Texas School of Law, JD, 1994 (Chancellors; Order of the Coif).