Joseph F. Leeson III Named to the 2027 Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America

Joseph F. Leeson III has been named to the 2027 edition of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America, recognized in two categories: Labor and Employment Law – Employee and Litigation – Labor and Employment. It is the second consecutive year he has earned the distinction.

For Leeson & Co. the recognition lands close to home. Both categories name the employment work this office does — representing employees rather than employers — which sits alongside estate planning as one of the two practices the firm is built around.

What the recognition actually measures

Best Lawyers has run on the same principle for more than forty years: the best lawyers know who the best lawyers are. Selection is by peer review. There is no fee to be considered, no self-nomination, and no way to buy a place on the list. The attorneys who put a name forward are the ones who have seen the work up close — across a negotiating table, in a deposition, or on the other side of a case.

Ones to Watch recognizes attorneys earlier in their careers for professional excellence in private practice. Mr. Leeson’s 2027 recognition is listed publicly on his Best Lawyers profile.

Recognized for work on the employee’s side

Both categories point at the same practice: workplace disputes brought on behalf of the person who works there. That is a deliberate choice about which side of the table this firm sits on, and it does not change case to case.

• Discrimination — being treated differently because of a protected characteristic, whether in hiring, pay, promotion, discipline or scheduling.
• Retaliation — being punished for reporting conduct you were entitled to report.
• Sexual harassment — conduct that makes the workplace hostile, and the employer’s failure to act on it.
• Employment contract disputes — unpaid bonuses, denied commissions, improper clawbacks, or benefits that were agreed and then withheld.

A fuller explanation of each, and how these claims are built, is on the employment litigation page.

One practical note that matters more than any award: employment claims run on deadlines. Many require a charge to be filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission within a strict window, and waiting can end a claim before anyone looks at its merits. If something has happened at work, the early conversation is the cheap one.

Why an estate planning firm also litigates employment cases

The two practices look unrelated from outside. They share a spine: both are decided by financial detail that someone has to be willing to work through.

Joseph F. Leeson III trained and practiced as a CPA before he practiced law — four years in tax accounting at an international public accounting firm and a large financial corporation. He holds a JD from Indiana University Maurer School of Law and an MBA in accounting from DeSales University, and was named to MSN’s Legal Powerlist: 2026’s Most Respected Lawyers.

In an employment case that background shows up as the arithmetic behind a commission structure, a bonus formula, or what a benefit was actually worth. In estate work it is the inheritance tax return and the question of what an estate really owes. Same discipline, different subject.

Talk to Leeson & Co.

Whether the question is a workplace dispute or an estate plan, the first conversation is about working out what you are actually dealing with and whether anything needs doing quickly.

Call 610-691-3350  |  Request a 30-minute conversation

This page describes a professional recognition and general principles of Pennsylvania law. It is not legal advice for your situation, and no recognition or past result guarantees a particular outcome. Please speak with us before acting on anything here.