Karl Nelson is the partner-in-charge of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher's Dallas office and a member of the firm's Labor and Employment, Employee Benefits, and Executive Compensation Practice Groups. He is also co-chair of the firm's Privacy and Data Security Practice Group. 

Mr. Nelson counsels and represents clients in all aspects of federal and state employment regulation, labor relations, and compensation and benefits law.  He has extensive experience defending complex labor and benefit matters, including class and collective actions under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act.  He has successfully defended clients against claims of age, race, disability and gender discrimination, sexual harassment, "whistle-blower" retaliation, and wrongful discharge under state common law, and he regularly advises and represents clients in connection with trade secret, competition, and employee-raiding issues.  Representative reported cases include:

• Chacko v. Sabre, Inc., et al., 473 F.3d 604 (5th Cir. 2006) – Won dismissal of claims challenging design and administration of ERISA-governed severance plan and secured award of costs in favor of defendants.
• Lalonde v. Textron, Inc., 270 F. Supp.2d 272 (D.R.I. June 24, 2003), aff'd in part, 369 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 2004) - Won dismissal of putative class action claims alleging fiduciary breach and prohibited self-dealing under ERISA in connection with investment of employee savings plan assets in employer's securities.
• Holtzclaw v. DSC Communications, Inc., 255 F.3d 254 (5th Cir. 2001) - Affirmed dismissal of ADA discrimination claims based on plaintiff's prior inconsistent statements regarding ability to work and successfully argued for adoption in Fifth Circuit of "qualified for the job" prerequisite to retaliation claims under ERISA Section 510 and the ADEA.
• Robertson v. Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc., 32 F.3d 948 (5th Cir. 1994), cert. denied 513 U.S. 1154 (1995) - Affirming post-verdict judgment as a matter of law dismissing retaliation claim by alleged whistleblower charging fraud and abuse under the Federal False Claims Act.

Mr. Nelson also has extensive experience representing clients before federal and state administrative agencies.  He has successfully represented employers before the Department of Labor in complex wage and hour and pension benefits investigations and in Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower retaliation cases, as well as before the EEOC in connection with charges of individual and class-wide discrimination. Mr. Nelson also frequently assists clients in conducting internal investigations of high-risk and high-profile matters such as those involving potential misconduct by senior executives and corporate officers and allegations of whistle-blowing under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and similar laws.

As co-chair of the firm's Privacy and Data Security Practice Group, Mr. Nelson also regularly assists clients in anticipating and responding to privacy issues in a broad range of contexts.  He has counseled and represented large national retailers in connection with the potential breach of electronic payment systems and the loss of sensitive consumer data.  He also regularly advises clients in connection with the use sensitive and private information in the employment context, including monitoring and use of employee communications via company-provided email and other electronic systems, use of background investigations and other investigative tools in hiring decisions and investigations of job misconduct, compliance with international privacy and data protection standards, and the design and implementation of comprehensive records management programs that integrate the retention, secure storage, and destruction of sensitive employment and other data.

Mr. Nelson regularly writes and speaks on employment, benefits and privacy topics including fiduciary liability issues under ERISA, trade secrets and non-compete covenants, and data security issues.  He has served as an adjunct instructor in Human Resource Law and co-authored a software package for human resource professionals.  He is an active member of the American Bar Association's Section of Labor and Employment Law and the American Employment Law Council.  Mr. Nelson is a member of the State Bar of Texas and is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, the First, Fifth, and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeals and numerous federal district courts.

Mr. Nelson received his law degree from Duke University School of Law in 1991, graduating with high honors, and his B.B.A. in economics and business administration from the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire, graduating summa cum laude from the University Honors Program.