Halima Woodhead

About

I'm a solo employer-side labor and employment lawyer based in western North Carolina. I work for two kinds of employers: U.S. companies with people in other countries, and businesses with a team in North Carolina. In North Carolina, I do the everyday employment work: handbooks and HR policies, figuring out who's an employee and who's a contractor (and who's salaried or hourly), terminations and severance agreements, non-competes, and employment risk audits. The cross-border work is mostly for startups and growth-stage companies, wherever in the U.S. they're based. I help them decide how to hire in a new country (contractor, employer of record, or their own entity), review EOR contracts, sort out (mis)classified contractors abroad, and build HR policies that work across countries. I also do employment diligence for buyers and investors, and handle labor disputes. When an answer turns on another country's law, I bring in local counsel and manage the work. Across both, I advise on working conditions in supply chains and on putting B Corp's Fair Work and Human Rights standards into practice. Most projects are flat fee, and companies that want someone on call without hiring in-house can bring me on as fractional employment counsel. Before private practice, I spent more than a decade at the U.S. Department of Labor, enforcing the labor chapters of U.S. trade agreements. I'm licensed in North Carolina and New York, and I work in English and Spanish.

Practice Areas

Services

• Fractional Global Employment Counsel

  Receive in-house counsel on all of your company’s global, international, and cross-border labor and employment matters. Retainer or hourly.
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• Union Engagement & Negotiations

  Engage productively with employees that have organized or are in the process of forming a union.
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• Incident/Workplace Investigations

  Accidents, terminations, harassment, and other issues require experienced counsel to conduct interviews, review evidence, and guide your company on next steps. Virtual, hybrid, or in-person options.
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Education

• America University Washington College of Law
  J.D.