Steven H. Winterbauer

Steve is the founder and managing member of Winterbauer & Diamond, a premier Seattle employment and labor law firm, serving clients throughout Washington and the Pacific Northwest.

He began his legal career at Foster, Pepper & Shefelman, where he became a partner and served as Chair of the Employment and Labor Group. Steve has over twenty-five years of experience counseling and litigating in employment and labor matters. He counsels employers through the employment and labor implications of mergers, acquisitions, reductions-in-force, early retirement programs, successive planning, and plant closures. He has successfully defended companies before state and federal courts, as well as administrative agencies.

Steve also has significant experience prosecuting and defending claims related to employee mobility and the disposition of business assets, including, for example, claims for breach of non-competition, non-solicitation and no-hire agreements, breach of fiduciary duty, violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and trade secret misappropriation. His arbitration experience ranges from private arbitration pursuant to mandatory arbitration agreements to traditional labor arbitration, to public sector interest arbitration.

Our comprehensive labor and employment law practice is designed to keep employers in compliance with the myriad of local, state and federal laws, rules and regulations that touch upon every aspect of the workplace in one way or another. With a deep working knowledge of applicable laws and broad experience with enforcement and administrative agencies, we advise companies on regulatory compliance and represent them in administrative enforcement actions when necessary. Always with an eye toward preventing problems before they start, we assist companies with planning, training and investigations on the front-end to attain and maintain legal compliance.

Beyond compliance, we help organizations formulate and implement employment policies and practices, plan and implement other steps to create and maintain the necessary labor and/or human resources infrastructure they need and work culture they desire, and otherwise respond to workplace challenges in ways that are aligned with and best promote their business objectives. We advise and defend employers at every stage of the employment relationship, from recruitment, testing, and hiring to discipline and discharge, to the protection of trade secrets and other business assets in the context of an increasingly mobile and transitory workforce. We also counsel employers on, and defend them against claims related to, the employment and labor relations implications of the full range of corporate structural decisions, including consolidations, reorganizations, reductions-in-force, and mergers and acquisitions.

Winterbauer & Diamond PLLC is a premier Seattle employment and labor law firm, serving clients throughout Washington and the Pacific Northwest. We represent public and private employers, from sole proprietorships and start-ups to Fortune 500 corporations, across a broad range of industries. We approach every workplace issue as an opportunity to effectuate positive change and further our clients’ desired culture and other business interests. We offer timely, practical, and cost-effective advice and representation on the spectrum of legal issues in the workplace.

Our small-firm, personal approach translates to efficient, responsive representation with a high level of client satisfaction. Additionally, we serve as the Washington state representative to the Worklaw® Network, a nationwide consortium of law firms focused on management-side employment and labor law, which allows us to offer our regional clients access to legal resources and expertise in 27 states and Canada.