Photo of Shanice Z. Smith-Banks

Shanice is an associate in the Labor Department. Shanice is a member of several of the firm’s Practice Groups, including Investigations, Labor Management Relations and Counseling, Training & Pay Equity. Her practice involves assisting clients in litigations, arbitrations, and administrative proceedings surrounding claims of unlawful discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. She has experience assisting with workplace investigations, pay equity analyses, and counseling clients on a range of employment matters. Relative to her labor relations practice, Shanice assists with representation proceedings, responding to unfair labor practice charges and counseling clients surrounding union organizing efforts and collective bargaining.

Shanice was awarded one of Proskauer’s Golden Gavel Awards in 2023 celebrating excellence in pro bono work. Shanice’s pro bono efforts focus on criminal justice and immigration work. She earned her J.D. from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, where immediately upon graduation, Shanice argued a case on behalf of the Loyola Criminal Defense Law Clinic in front of the Louisiana Supreme Court.

On May 19, 2025, the Screen Actors Guild‐American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (“SAG-AFTRA”)—the union representing actors, voice artists, and other media professionals—filed an unfair labor practice charge against Llama Productions, a subsidiary of Epic Games, over the use of an AI-generated voice for Darth Vader in Fortnite. The

Amidst ongoing transitions—with the Board operating with a quorum and the President’s nominee for General Counsel pending Senate confirmation—the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) released its Fiscal Year (“FY”) 2026 Budget Justification on May 23, 2025. The proposed budget requests $285.2 million, a 4.7% ($14 million) decrease

On May 22, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision granting President Trump’s emergency application to stay D.C. Circuit Court orders that reinstated National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) member Gwynne A. Wilcox and Merit Systems Protection Board (“MSPB”) member Cathy A. Harris. This stay will remain in effect while

On May 16, 2025, the National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB”) Acting General Counsel, William B. Cowen, issued Memorandum GC 25-06, titled “Seeking Remedial Relief in Settlement Agreements,” that significantly loosens the requirements before NLRB Regions to approve settlements of unfair labor practice charges. 

The Memorandum comes on the heels

The D.C. Circuit’s April 22, 2025 decision offers an important lesson on joint-employer cases under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA” or “Act”): without an ongoing contractual relationship, the dispute can vanish in a puff of mootness.

Google contracted with Cognizant Technology Solutions (“Cognizant”) in 2019 to provide services through

On October 14, 2024, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) issued a press release confirming the continued increase in union organizing efforts.  While the NLRB did not attribute any particular reason for the upward trajectory in petition filings, this trend, which has sharply risen over the last

On October 7, 2024, the National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB” or the “Board”) General Counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo, released MEMORANDUM GC 25-01, titled “Remedying the Harmful Effects of Non-Compete and “Stay-or-Pay” Provisions that Violate the National Labor Relations Act.” GC Abruzzo states in the memo that she intends to urge