Overview

Tahl Tyson is an experienced international employment lawyer, admitted to practice as a solicitor in England and Wales and in the United States.

Tahl provides pragmatic advice to multinational clients based on her practical experience with a wide variety of international and cross-border matters. Examples include:

  • UK employment law advice
  • Multijurisdictional legal compliance for APAC and EMEA
  • UK policies and handbooks, and employment contracts
  • New market expansions
  • Employment law aspects of restructurings, mergers and acquisitions, out-sourcing and in-sourcing, and redundancies (including situations implicating Acquired Rights Directive and TUPE)
  • Contingent worker programs and local compliance
  • Cross-border mobility 
  • UK and international restrictive covenants issues

In addition to private practice, Tahl has in-house experience as head of global employment law and a member of the HR leadership team for a global publicly traded company, where she advised on workplace issues for all Group companies spanning 40 countries. While resident in the company’s Paris office, she provided site leadership for the French company and had responsibility for all aspects of human resources and employment issues, including works council consultation and negotiations.

Tahl majored in Chinese studies at Yale and was among the earliest Westerners to study in post-Mao China. She worked on China energy research as the recipient of a Congressionally-funded 3-year graduate degree fellowship at the East-West Center in Hawaii. In addition to the UK and China, Tahl has also lived and worked in Hong Kong, Japan, and France.

Tahl’s past litigation practice which informs her practical advice to clients, has included noncompetition and trade secrets disputes, high-stakes individual and large class action employment lawsuits, jury and bench trials, as well as, appellate argument to higher courts. She has been an arbitrator for the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), represented unionized employers in grievance arbitration, and represented parties in mediation.

Additionally, Tahl's trial experience includes serving pro-bono as co-counsel with the Office of Public Defense of King County, Washington in felony criminal cases; co-counsel with Washington Protection and Advocacy Services in a class action case brought on behalf of patients at Western State Hospital seeking constitutional standards of care; and co-counsel with Northwest Immigrant Rights Project on multiple deportation cases.

Tahl is a frequent speaker on global workplace topics.

Professional & Community Affiliations

Member

Employment Lawyer’s Association (ELA), United Kingdom

Member

European Employment Lawyers Association (EELA)

Member

International Bar Association

Member

Labor and Employment Law and International Law Sections

American Bar Association

Member

International Practice and Labor and Employment Law Sections

Washington State Bar Association

Former Board Member

Washington State Hotel and Lodging Association

Former Board Member

The Seattle Children’s Museum

Recognition

Named, The Best Lawyers in America®

2013-2025

Awarded, AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rating

Martindale-Hubbell

Named, Best Lawyers

Women in the Law, Washington Labor and Employment

2016

Named, Top Rated Lawyer® - International Law

The American Lawyer & Martindale-Hubbell™

2013

Named, Best Lawyers in Labor Law

Seattle Business

2013

Recipient, Pro Bono Public Service Commendation

Washington State Bar Association

2007

Named, Recognised Practitioner

Chambers USA

2017-2018

News, Analysis & Press

UK Poised to Expand Workplace PPE Obligations

SHRM Online

October 15, 2021

What Are Companies’ Legal Obligations Around Coronavirus?

Harvard Business Review

March 4, 2020

Global Investigations: A Step-by-Step Process

Corporate Counsel

April 19, 2019

Littler Global Guide - United Kingdom - Q1 2017

Global Guide Quarterly

March 31, 2017

Brexit: Some Potential Implications for Employers

Thomson Reuters Corporate Counsel Connect

September 1, 2016

Technology and the Workplace: Artificial Intelligence and Robots in the 21st Century Workplace

Employment & Industrial Relations Law

April 2016

Terminating Overseas Employees

Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)

January 1, 2014

Global Investigations: A Six-Step Process

HR Magazine

November 1, 2013

Hiring and Firing Overseas? Know the Legal Risks

Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)

December 10, 2012

A Roadmap to Effective and Lawful Global Investigations

Human Resources IQ

December 10, 2012

The Refugee Act of 1980: Suggested Reforms In the Overseas Refugee Program to Safeguard Humanitarian Concerns from Competing Interests

Washington Law Review

Books & Book Chapters

  • Red versus Expert: Managerial Reform and Organizational Change in the Chinese State Industrial Enterprise, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1987

Speaking Engagements

Thriving in Life through Menopause

Culture Amp Edinburgh

June 24, 2024

Affirmative Action

European Employment Lawyers Association Annual Conference, Reykjavik, Iceland

June 7, 2024

RIF Master Class

Littler Executive Employer Conference, Phoenix, AZ

May 10, 2023

Wellness and Morale for Women: Working Together Beyond the Taboo

Littler Executive Employer Conference

May 6, 2022

The Compliance Issues that Arise When U.S.-based Employees Just Want to Do Their Jobs… Remotely from Overseas

Littler Executive Employer Conference

May 5, 2022

International Wandering Workers: Avoiding the Legal Pitfalls for Multinational Employers

April 8, 2021

The COVID-19 Vaccine – Legal and Practical Implications

January 20, 2021

The COVID-19 Vaccine – Legal and Practical Implications

January 13, 2021

Modern Workplaces and Employee Benefits: A Discussion of Fertility and Family-Planning Issues in the Workplace

November 24, 2020

COVID-19 – For Companies with Employees in China, Japan and South Korea

March 26, 2020

COVID-19: Common Employer Questions Asked and Answered!

March 13, 2020

Here, There and Everywhere: International Sexual Harassment Laws and the Evolving Impacts of #MeToo, #StandUp and Beyond

The 2019 Executive Employer® Conference, Phoenix, AZ

May 9, 2019

International #MeToo, #StandUp and Transformative Technologies in the Workplace

Seattle, WA

December 4, 2018

#MeToo, #StandUp and Transformative Technologies in the Workplace

San Francisco, CA

September 13, 2018

International Employment & Labor Law Roundtable

Los Angeles, CA

September 12, 2018

Second Annual Canada Conference

Toronto, ON

November 1, 2017

Managing Employees Across Borders; Managing Cultural Differences, Global Investigations and Compliance, Hiring & Terminations

May 31, 2017

Entering New Markets: Tips and Tricks of Global Expansion

The 2017 Executive Employer® Conference

May 11, 2017

Inaugural Europe Conference - Germany

Berlin

November 10, 2016

Inaugural U.K. Conference

November 8, 2016

The Art of Global Restructuring and Global Workforce Integration

The 2016 Executive Employer® Conference

May 5, 2016

Make, Break, or Fake it: Legalities of Conducting Business in India

December 2, 2015

How Technology is Affecting Employment Practices

Fourth Transatlantic Conference, Employment Lawyers Association and American Bar Association, London, England

September 28, 2015

Managing Across Borders

Seattle, WA

September 17, 2015

Diversity in the Workplaces

2015 Europe Annual Conference, Association of Corporate Counsel Europe (ACCE), Munich, Germany

June 1, 2015

Global Compliance & Cross-Border Investigations: Strategies for Enforcement and Risk Management

June 17, 2015

Building an Effective Legal Team

2014 Europe Annual Conference - Association of Corporate Counsel Europe (ACCE), London, England

May 18, 2014

How Technology is Changing the Law of the Workplace: New Platforms, New Applications, New Problems

Mid-Year Meeting, International, Labor & Employment Section - American Bar Association (ABA), Tel Aviv, Israel

May 7, 2014

Atypical Workers

Third Transatlantic Conference - Employment Lawyers Association and American Bar Association, London, England

October 7, 2013

International Investigations

Law School - Luiss-Guido Carli University, Rome, Italy

2012

International Investigations

College of Law - Université de Cergy-Pontoise, France

2012

Forging a Global HR Team to Align with a Global Business: Transparency and Integration

Global Employer Institute

Littler Mendelson, Washington D.C.

November 9, 2012

Running with Scissors: What U.S. Employers Should Know Before Cutting Global Staff

Global Employer Institute

Littler Mendelson, Washington D.C.

November 7, 2012

Investigating Employee Misconduct Across Borders, Issues and Practical Steps for the Multinational Lawyer

2012 Annual Conference - Association of Corporate Counsel, Orlando, FL

October 3, 2012

Global Trade Secret Protection and Drafting Global Policies

International Labor and Employment Law Committee, Section of Labor and Employment Law - American Bar Association, Paris, France

May 13-17, 2012

Managing the Social Media Activity of A Multinational Workforce after the Global Privacy Juggernaut

The 2012 Executive Employer® Conference

Littler Mendelson, Scottsdale, AZ

May 10, 2012

Conducting Lawful Investigations: The First 72 Hours

The 2012 Executive Employer® Conference

Littler Mendelson, Scottsdale, AZ

May 9, 2012

Managing Across Borders

Global HR News Conference, Bellevue, WA

March 29, 2012

International Assignments: Avoiding the Legal, Financial and Safety Risks of Transferring Employees into Latin America

The Global Employer Latin America Conference - Littler Mendelson, Miami, FL

February 9, 2012

Investigating Employee Misconduct Across Borders

Global Employer Institute - Littler Mendelson, Washington D.C.

November 2, 2011

New Tools for Behaving Badly: How Social Media are Abused and How Cross-Border Employers can Respond, an Employment and High-Tech View

Fall Meeting, Section of International Law - American Bar Association, Dublin, Ireland

October 11, 2011

Equal Treatment for Men and Women, The Changing World of Work: Responding to the Challenge of the 21st Century from a Global and EU Perspective

International Bar Association, Brussels, Belgium

April 15, 2011

Labor and Employment Law Issues in International Transactions and Thereafter: A Guide for U.S. Lawyers

Webcast - American Bar Association

2010

Social Media in the Workplace

International Law Section - American Bar Association, Paris, France

2010

International Employment Law Issues for Expanding Global Companies

Worklaw Network, Honolulu, HI

2010

Global Employment Law Update

Littler Mendelson Conference

2008

Education

  • J.D., University of Washington School of Law, 1991
  • M.A./M.B.A., University of Hawaii, 1987
  • B.A., Yale University, 1982

Bar Admission

Washington
United Kingdom (England and Wales)

Courts

  • U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit