Holly represents management in labor and employment law litigation, contract negotiations, drug testing and arbitrations. Holly represents clients before administrative agencies, such as the Department of Labor,  the Department of Justice, the EEOC, the Texas Commissions on Human Rights and the Texas Workforce Commission.

She serves as primary regional employment counsel to companies in the oil and gas exploration and production, oil and gas tools and service, restaurant, retail, financial, chemical, health care, drug testing and administration, transportation, and telecommunications industries. She conducts training for clients and advises on all aspects of employment issues. Holly handles complex litigation and appeals involving trade secrets, unfair competition,  discrimination, harassment, and retaliation claims, employee benefit claims under ERISA, employment torts, defamation, drug testing, privacy, and class and collective action wage and hour claims.

Holly is admitted to practice in the US Supreme Court, US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, and the US District Courts for the Eastern, Northern, Southern, and Western Districts of Texas, and she has tried cases in counties throughout Texas and in all four US Texas district courts. Holly has extensive appellate practice and has prepared briefs presented to the US Texas, and Louisiana Supreme Courts, several of which have been argued before these Courts

Bar Admissions

Education
JD, South Texas College of Law, magna cum laude, Case Notes Editor, South Texas Law Review, 1985

BBA, Texas State University, with honors, 1977

• Defended cases alleging discrimination, retaliation, and harassment, including cases with class and collective allegations. 
• Defended high-ranking corporate executives accused by employees of sexual assault and fraud. 
• Coordinated, conducted, and assisted with the resolutions of numerous confidential investigations involving alleged executive misconduct, including Sarbanes-Oxley investigations, investigations into claims of sexual harassment, sexual assault, company-wide discrimination, fraud, and federal criminal immigration hiring and harboring allegations. 
• Report to members of executive management, boards of directors, audit committees, ICE, and Department of Justice on issues involving allegations of corporate or executive misconduct. 
• Defended employers in nationwide collective wage and hour cases. 
• Conducts audits of employers’ workplace practices and policies, as well as I-9 and hiring/promotion audits, and wage and hour assessments and audits. 
• Successfully resolved Commissioner’s Charges claiming ADA, race, sex, age, and ethnicity.
• First-chaired numerous trials in state and federal courts, including: a 70-plaintiff age discrimination case arising out of a reduction-in-force; an FLSA collective action; a multi-plaintiff case for severance benefits under ERISA involving potential claims amounting to tens of millions of dollars; claims against former employees/competitors under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, trade secrets laws, and other unfair competition laws; and cases involving claims of exposure to a sexually-hostile working environment, sexual assault, sex discrimination and retaliation, employment torts, workers' compensation retaliation, racial discrimination and racial harassment, including claims of retaliation and allegations of derogatory racial remarks, Equal Pay Act, fraud and negligent misrepresentation, and breach of contract.
• Argued before the Texas Supreme Court, many Texas courts of appeal, the US Court of Appeals for the 4th and 5th Circuits, Louisiana state and federal district courts and a Louisiana court of appeal, and a Maryland federal district court. 
• Provides management training designed to prevent employment litigation or other employment disputes, and advice and counseling regarding employment contracts, reductions-in-force, audits, hiring, severance packages, and agreements.

• Life Sustaining Fellow, Texas Bar Foundation
• Member, Texas Bar Association, Labor and Employment Section
• Fellow, Houston Bar Foundation
• Member, Houston Bar Association, Labor and Employment Section
• Member, American Bar Association, Labor and Employment Section
• Board Member, Texas General Counsel Forum, 2008 - present
• Former Member, Planning Committee, Texas Corporate Counsel Institute
• Former Co-Chair, Candidate and Recruitment Committee, R Club
• Former Board Member, March of Dimes, (Special Events Committee)
• Former Advisory Committee, Federalist Society
• Delegate to the Fifth Circuit Conference, 1996-1998, 2007, 2009, 2011
• Lifetime Member, Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo; former member of Grand Entry Committee
• Former Board Member, Texas Board on Aging, Texas Department on Aging, (Finance Committee)
• Tyson Foods, Inc. Preferred Legal Services Provider

• Recognized as a Leader in Labor and Employment, Texas, Chambers USA, 2004-present
• Named among the Best Lawyers in Labor and Employment, Corporate Counsel magazine, 2007-present 
• Voted by readers and professional community as one of Houston’s top lawyers, H Texas Magazine, 2007-present
• Selected as a Best Lawyer for Labor and Employment, Texas, Best Lawyers in America, 2005-present. A description of the selection methodology can be found on Best Lawyers’ webpage.
• Selected as a Super Lawyer for Employment Litigation, Texas Monthly magazine and Texas Super Lawyers magazine, 2007-2011. A description of the selection methodology can be found on Super Lawyers’ webpage.
• Selected as a Best Lawyer for Labor and Employment, Texas (2005-present); Women in Litigation Law, Labor and Employment and for Employment Law-Management (2013-present); and Best Women Lawyers in Texas (2013-present), Best Lawyers in America, 2005-present. Also named among the 50 Best Women Lawyers in Texas (2006, 2009, 2013) and among the Top 100 Lawyers in Houston (2007, 2013), Texas Monthly magazine and Best Lawyers. A description of the selection methodology can be found on Best Lawyers’ webpage.

• AV^® Peer Review Rated in Martindale-Hubbell and named among Texas’ Legal Leaders for Labor and Employment Law (2008-present), ALM based on Martindale-Hubbell. A description of the selection methodology can be found on Martindale-Hubbell’s webpage.

• The Trend Towards Legal Recreational Cannabis: Considerations for Employers

  By Holly Williamson |May 2021

• Upcoming Fifth Circuit Hearing to Address FLSA Day-Rate Issues

  By Holly Williamson |May 2021

• Department of Labor Expands Unemployment Insurance Eligibility To Include Workers Who Declined Work Due to Pandemic Safety Concerns

  By Holly Williamson |March 2021

• Fifth Circuit Carves Out Religious Exemption to LGBTQ+ Discrimination Claims, Texas Lawyers
• Third-Party Drug-Testers—Not Just Employers—Owe No Duty to Employees, Texas Lawyer
• D.C. to require pay transparency, prohibit inquiry into wage history, Westlaw Today
• Do You Know Who Has Your Proprietary Information? The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel
• Where Employers Stand After 5th Circ. Overturns Title VII Test, Law360
• Conducting Cross-Examination of the Plaintiff in Employment Litigation, Tulane Multi-State Program
• As SCOTUS weighs Title VII’s harm standard, employers should address DEI program vulnerabilities, HR Dive
• Employee E-Signatures in Arbitration Agreements Under Scrutiny, The Texas Lawyer
• What ABA’s Position On Harassment Means For Employers, Law360