Kathleen Cahill Law
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© Kathleen Cahill Law. 2026 | All rights reserved.
Full and fair pay for the quality of your work, and a workplace free of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation — that’s not too much to ask, and it is exactly what Maryland employment law is intended to protect. Whatever corner of the state you work in, from Baltimore’s hospitals and financial institutions to the biotech corridor around Rockville and the government offices of Annapolis and the D.C. suburbs, you are entitled to a workplace that treats you fairly. As a Maryland employment lawyer, I help employees across the state avoid or resolve disputes, hold employers accountable, negotiate from strength, and get back what unfair or illegal treatment has cost them. I look forward to helping you wherever your employment issues arise in Maryland.
An unexpected termination. A new manager who starts changing the rules. A contract you don’t fully understand. A complaint that HR seems to be brushing aside. Any of these is reason enough to talk to an employment attorney, not to rush into filing a claim, but to first understand where you stand and what your options actually are. Waiting until a situation has fully unraveled usually means fewer options, not more.
I work with clients at every stage of a workplace problem, whether that means reviewing an offer before you accept it, weighing in on a severance package, assessing a non-compete you’ve just been handed, or building a case for litigation after informal dispute resolution efforts have failed. As a Maryland employment lawyer, one recommendation is the same regardless of the stage of your matter: get me involved early enough that we have real options, and are not just left to do damage control.
Maryland is home to a healthy concentration of executive and professional talent — in biotech and life sciences around Rockville and Gaithersburg, in finance and insurance headquartered in Baltimore, and in government contracting throughout the D.C. suburbs — and executive-level employment disputes carry their own particular stakes. Equity, deferred compensation, change-in-control provisions, and restrictive covenants all complicate what might otherwise be a straightforward negotiation. Maryland executives can rely on me for these higher-stakes matters – with my understanding of both the legal landscape and the leverage available to you, I am poised to effectively negotiate, problem-solve, and litigate on behalf of professionals and senior managers.
Every employment agreement you sign, whether at hiring, upon promotion, or in connection with a company reorganization, governs your rights for as long as you’re with that employer, and sometimes well beyond. I review and negotiate employment agreements for professionals across Maryland, flagging vague compensation language, one-sided termination clauses, and restrictive covenants that reach further than they should. The best time to enlist my assistance is before you sign, but I stand ready to assist with the parameters of an existing agreement as well.
Maryland law places some meaningful limitations on how broad a non-compete agreement can be, and on which workers can be bound by one at all — veterinary professionals and many healthcare workers are protected outright, for instance. If you’ve been asked to sign a non-compete agreement at any point in your employment, or a former employer is threatening to enforce one against you, I can assess whether it’s valid, how far it reaches, and what your options are.
Non-solicitation clauses are often viewed as non-competes, but their impact is very different — instead of keeping you out of a competing workplace altogether, they aim to restrict you from soliciting former clients, customers, or coworkers for a defined period. These provisions are common across Maryland’s finance, sales, and healthcare sectors. I help clients understand exactly what a non-solicitation clause is designed to restrict, to negotiate narrower terms before signing when possible, and work through the fallout when one is already in effect or allegedly violated.
A severance offer is a binding legal contract, not a courtesy or a formality, and signing it almost invariably means giving up your right to bring most claims against your former employer. Before you sign anything, it’s worth having an employment law attorney walk through the release language, the payment terms, and any restrictive covenants embedded in the agreement, so you understand exactly what you’re trading away and whether the offer reflects what your claims might be worth. Initial offers can often be improved through negotiation, and I welcome the chance to work with you to maximize your deal.
Maryland is an at-will employment state, which surprises people who understandably assume an employer needs a legitimate reason to let them go. In most cases, unfortunately they do not. But the impact of at-will employment isn’t unlimited: an employer can’t fire you for a discriminatory reason, or in retaliation for a protected complaint, or in violation of clearly established public policy. When an employer crosses that line, you may have a wrongful termination claim. Protecting your rights guaranteed by Maryland law entails understanding exactly where those lines fall, which requires a careful legal analysis. Where the lines are crossed, I help clients pursue compensation for what their employer’s illegal conduct has cost them, and in some cases, reinstatement can be sought as well.
Discrimination claims in Maryland can arise under Title VII, the Maryland Fair Employment Practices Act, and a range of local ordinances interwoven according to where you work. I represent employees facing discrimination based on every protected category — race, gender, age, disability, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, pregnancy, and genetic information among them — and I regularly bring claims before the EEOC and the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights, as well as in state and federal court. As a Maryland employment rights lawyer who has spent years litigating these cases, I know how to build a claim that vindicates the workplace rights Maryland law guarantees.
Navigating a serious illness, injury, or ongoing medical condition while trying to hold onto your job is difficult enough without resistance from your employer. The Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and Maryland’s own disability protections all offer real safeguards. As an employment attorney Maryland clients turn to for these matters, I help secure the reasonable accommodations or protected leave employees are entitled to. When an employer ignores those obligations, denies what you’re owed, or terminates you because of a medical condition when you know you can still do your job, I help pursue a resolution through negotiations, the administrative process, or the courts, whichever is the appropriate and most effective avenue for your specific circumstances. You need not face these difficult circumstances alone. I can be your partner or take on the hard work while you take care of yourself.
I’ve represented victims of sexual harassment in workplaces across Maryland for years, from unwanted conduct by a supervisor, to a hostile environment that management has repeatedly ignored, to sexual assault on the job. Title VII and Maryland’s anti-discrimination law both prohibit sexual misconduct, and I help clients pursue claims before the EEOC, the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights, or directly in court when that’s the better path. The goal is always the same: real accountability, and a path back to doing your job safely, without tolerating conduct you should never have had to face.
You need not face a workplace problem alone, particularly when the law already tilts in the employer’s favor. Please don’t wait for a difficult situation to become a crisis. Whether you’re reviewing a contract before signing, facing discrimination or harassment, or trying to understand your options before you leave or after a termination, Kathleen Cahill Law is here to help. Contact a Maryland employment attorney today, and let’s talk about what comes next.
Kathleen Cahill Law
N/a