Joseph J. Costello is the practice group leader of Morgan Lewis's Labor and Employment Practice. He is responsible for the strategic and day-to-day management of more than 250 attorneys in 16 of the firm's 25 global offices. Mr. Costello also represents employers in a broad range of employment litigation matters and administrative agency proceedings, and provides counseling in connection with human resources and benefit-related decisions. His litigation practice includes ERISA class actions challenging the prudence of benefit plan investments, the legality of plan design decisions, and the adequacy of fiduciary disclosures; employment discrimination cases under Title VII, the ADEA, and state law; whistleblower retaliation proceedings; and trade secret and noncompete agreement disputes. Mr. Costello advises employers on legal and practical issues associated with executive terminations, reduction-in-force programs, mergers and acquisitions, workplace investigations, employee discipline, accommodations and leave under the ADA and FMLA, and union-management relations. He has represented employers before various administrative agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Department of Labor, and the National Labor Relations Board.

From 2004 through 2014, Mr. Costello was named one of the leading U.S. lawyers for employment law by Chambers USA, based on the views of clients, peers, and other industry professionals. Chambers called Mr. Costello "one of the premier ERISA attorneys in the country" and noted that his clients value his ability to "reduce the subject to a user-friendly form so no one comes out of a meeting not understanding."

Mr. Costello is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and before the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third, Fifth, and Tenth Circuits.