Jessica Brown is a partner in the Denver office of Gibson Dunn and a member of the firm’s Labor and Employment, White Collar Defense and Investigations, and Class Action Practice Groups. Jessica has been ranked by Chambers USA  for nineteen consecutive years as one of America’s Leading Lawyers for Labor and Employment. She was also recognized from 2020 to 2024 for Labor & Employment (Litigation) by the Lawdragon 500 Leading Corporate Employment Lawyers  guide, which features “the nation’s top advisors to businesses, universities, nonprofits and other organizations dealing with the mind-bending matrix of today’s global workforce.” Jessica has been listed consistently in The Best Lawyers in America® in the practice areas of Employment Law – Management and Litigation – Labor & Employment and was named a 2021 Lawyer of the Year in Employment Law – Management, Denver.

In addition, Benchmark Litigation US 2024  named Jessica a Labor & Employment Star. The Denver Business Journal named Jessica one of Denver’s “Forty Under 40.” Subsequently it awarded her the 2015 “Outstanding Women in Business Award” for the Law category. In 2017, the Ms. JD organization honored her in Chicago with its national “Sharing Her Passion” award for her work in relation to workplace investigations, gender equity, and mentoring.

Jessica advises corporate clients regarding COVID-19 liability risks, workplace vaccination policies, return-to-work protocols, Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act Transparency Rules, anti-harassment, whistleblower complaints, reductions in force, mandatory arbitration programs, and matters that intersect with intellectual property law, such as noncompete agreements and trade secrecy programs. She has assisted clients with compliance with a variety of state and federal equal pay and wage and hour laws, including Colorado’s new noncompete law and wage transparency rules. She also has successfully represented clients in connection with claims for misappropriation of trade secrets, trademark and trade dress infringement, breach of restrictive covenants, and unfair competition.

Jessica has conducted and overseen workplace investigations throughout her career as well. She also has defended nationwide and state-wide class and collective action lawsuits, alleging gender discrimination under Title VII, failure to permit facility access under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). She participated as a member of the trial team in Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., which redefined the legal standard for class certification as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court’s watershed decision.

In connection with Dukes, as well as three large global, white collar government investigations for two different Swiss entities, Jessica has managed complex and cross-border document collection, review, and production issues, overseeing large teams of lawyers to comply with civil requests, foreign data privacy laws and blocking statutes, and regulator demands, frequently on an expedited basis.

Representative Matters

• Representing a transportation provider in connection with claims for alleged harassment, discrimination, and retaliation.
• Defending a private equity firm in connection with claims for alleged harassment, discrimination, and retaliation.
• Assisting a home services company with a nationwide reduction in force.
• Helping numerous clients to comply with Colorado’s new laws impacting noncompete and customer non-solicitation covenants, wage and job opportunity transparency, paid leave, anti-discrimination, and workplace harassment.
• Represented an international gold mining company in a dispute with its former Executive Vice President, Corporate Development.
• Defended a logistics services company in connection with claims for employee raiding and misappropriation of trade secrets.
• Represented a national healthcare company in an arbitration matter involving claims between the Board and its former Chief Executive Officer.
• Counseled an oil and gas company, a technology and data management company, and an international alternative investment manager regarding layoffs and furloughs.
• Represented a video game company in connection with a gender discrimination class action with a focus on pay equity claims and defenses.
• Represented a hospital chain in connection with class claims asserted on a nation-wide basis under Title III of the ADA.

Recent Presentations and Publications

• “Corporate Information Governance and IT Teams: The Bridge to eDiscovery Success,” Co-Presenter, Master’s Conference, Denver, June 2023.
• “EPEW Transparency Rules: Employee and Employer Perspectives,” Co-Presenter, Colorado Bar Association 2023 Employment Law Conference, April 27, 2023.
• “Changes in the Work Environment,” Co-Presenter, Investment Company Institute 2022 Tax and Accounting Conference, September 20, 2022.
• “COVID-19 Hot Topics for Employers in 2021,” Presenter, University of Colorado, February 19, 2021.
• “COVID-19 Vaccines: Employer Strategies and Considerations,” Presenter, Gibson Dunn Webcast, February 10, 2021.
• “An Employer Playbook for the COVID “Vaccine Wars”: Strategies and Considerations for Workplace Vaccination Policies,” PLI Article, Author with Lauren Elliot and Daniel Rauch, February 4, 2021.
• “Civility in the Practice of Employment Law,” Presenter, 2020 Colorado Bar Association Employment Law Conference, October 2020.
• “Returning to Work: Health, Employment and Privacy Considerations and Constraints as Businesses Resume Post-Quarantine Operations,” Presenter, ACEC, July 2020.
• “Preparing For A Surge In Whistleblower Claims: From Developing A Compliance Plan To Best Practices When Investigating And Litigating Claims” Gibson Dunn Webcast, June 2020.
• “​Is #MeToo Becoming #NotHer,” Panelist, Women in E-Discovery national conference, Austin, Texas, May 2019.

Before joining Gibson Dunn in January 1995, Jessica clerked for the Honorable Jim R. Carrigan, United States District Court for the District of Colorado. Since joining the firm, Jessica has been a frequent author and lecturer on employment, investigation, privacy, gender, diversity, and leadership issues. Jessica is one of the managing editors and a contributing author for The Practitioner’s Guide to Colorado Employment Law. She is also a member of the firm’s Diversity Committee, Professional Development Committee, and Hiring Committee.

In addition, Jessica served as President of the Colorado Bar Association from July 2020 to July 2021. She has served as a Board member at Stanley British Primary School and Chair of the Joint Management Committee of the Colorado and Denver Bar Associations. She also chaired the Board of the Legal Aid Foundation from 2013-2015, was co-chair of the Denver Law Firm Campaign for Legal Aid in 2013, and served on the LAF Board for 11 years. She also co-chaired the Barristers Benefit Ball twice previously, helping to raise funds for Metro Volunteer Lawyers. In addition, Jessica has been very active with the Mile High United Way, as a member of the Tocqueville Society and a founding member of the Pinstripe PJ Club, helping to raise money for then-Mayor Hickenlooper’s homelessness initiative, Denver’s Road Home.

Jessica also has been very focused on issues relating to diversity and gender equity: She currently serves as a member of the Colorado Women’s Bar Association Foundation and is a past President of the Colorado Women’s Bar Association. She also served on the Board of the National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations for two years, from 2016-2018. She was a member of the Colorado Bar Association’s Committee for Balanced Legal Careers and worked closely with the Center for Legal Inclusiveness on various initiatives, including serving as moderator and panelist for several CLI Summit programs. Jessica also served as Co-Chair of the Programs Subcommittee of the Planning Committee of the National Association of Women’s Lawyers for its 2019 spring conference in Denver.

Finally, Jessica is actively involved in pro bono work in the local community and nationally, and has given time to organizations including Management Leadership for Tomorrow, the Mary M. Dower Benevolent Corporation, the Global Impact Investing Network, Tipping Point Community, Gold House, the U.S. Soccer Foundation, Know Your IX, the National Association of Counsel for Children, the National Women’s Law Center, the Cornell Law School Global Gender Justice Clinic, Ten Thousand Villages, the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network, and Denver’s Open Door Youth Gang Alternatives Program. And she helped establish a long-term relationship between Gibson Dunn and the Rocky Mountain Children’s Law Center.

Jessica received her law degree in 1993 from the University of Texas School of Law, where she served as Executive Editor for the Texas Law Review, was Clerk of the Chancellors, a member of the Order of the Coif, and graduated with High Honors (top 2%). Jessica received a Bachelor of Arts degree in American Studies from the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she graduated with honors as a member of Phi Beta Kappa.