Representing employers covered by the National Labor Relations Act and the Railway Labor Act in complex labor issues is a key specialism of the labor & employment practice group at Jones Day. The team’s comprehensive work portfolio counts matters including collective bargaining, labor arbitrations and litigation, work stoppages, union organization and representation, and the development of nationwide labor strategies. Stand-outs from the group’s impressive client base include major corporations McDonald’s, Bloomberg and American Airlines. New York-based Mathew Lampe jointly leads the team alongside Elizabeth McRee , who works out of Chicago. Brian West Easley, partner-in-charge of the Minneapolis office, is praised for his ‘significant experience’ across all aspects of labor-management relations. New York’s Willis Goldsmith is vastly experienced on traditional labor law matters, while Patricia Dunn is based in Washington DC, and is an expert in negotiating labor agreements, advising on bargaining strategies and contingency planning. At associate level, Chicago-based Allyson Werntz is a key point of contact.

The labor and employment practice group at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP is vastly experienced in labor-management relations across a full range of both litigation and counselling matters, with particular emphasis on collective bargaining, corporate campaigns, labor arbitrations, mediations and union organization campaigns. The team frequently practices before all federal, state and local agencies, and has a demonstrable track record at all levels of the court system including significant involvement in significant public policy matters, including the National Labor Relations Board governing ‘quickie’ election procedures. Based out of Washington DC, Daniel Bordoni maintains his focus on labor-management relations across the defense, manufacturing, transportation and consumer products industries. In the same office, Jonathan C. Fritts  is a key name on mandates spanning the transport, construction and energy industries. Los Angeles-based attorney and former NLRB board lawyer Nicole Buffalano represents high-end clients in critical labor issues across multiple sectors. Philadelphia’s Joseph Ragaglia  provides employers with strategic advice and jointly leads the firm’s global labor and employment practice in conjunction with transport expert Harry I. Johnson, III who works out of Century City, California. Former chairman of the NLRB, Philip Miscimarra is based in both Washington DC and Chicago, handling complex labor law disputes and union representation election cases. Philadelphia-based Steven R. Wall  is the firm’s managing partner and a senior name in the team.

 

Proskauer Rose LLP is home to an experienced team of practitioners with an impressive work portfolio, leveraging extensive sports, deep media and entertainment sector expertise to advise on a full-range of critical industry-specific labor issues. Employment law counseling, litigation and arbitration are core pillars of the group’s practice. The firm’s client roster in the space includes major global corporations, financial institutions and municipalities, including the city of New York and T-Mobile. Neil Abramson is based in New York and jointly leads the group alongside Los Angeles-based Anthony Oncidi. Elsewhere in the team, Paul Salvatore  provides strategic advice to companies on the full suite of labor-management relations issues. Steven Porzio is a key name for collective bargaining negotiations, alongside representation and unfair labor practice cases before the NLRB. Associate Erin Conroy focuses her practice on public sector labor and employment matters. All lawyers listed are in New York unless otherwise stated. Bernard Plum has retired.

Seyfarth Shaw LLP offers a deep bench of experienced lawyers, handling a full-range of labor-management relations mandates. Praised as ‘top notch’, the team focuses on all matters relating to organized labor: complex labor arbitrations, negotiations pertaining to collective bargaining, unfair labor practice charges, representation before the National Labor Relations Board and union organizing campaigns. Glenn Smith  chairs the practice group and is based in New York, with support from vice-chair and Seattle-based Molly Gabel. Washington DC’s Bryan O’Keefe  focuses on traditional labor law matters, including NLRB unfair practice charges and administrative law judge trials. In Boston, ‘extraordinary’ lawyer Arthur Telegen advises major clients on complex collective bargaining agreements, alongside general labor-management relations issues. Chicago-based Karla Sanchez maintains her impressive practice in the space, predominantly engaging on unfair labor practice proceedings and representations before the NLRB. Former co-chair Kyllan Kershaw  left in October 2022, whilst Bradford Livingston  retired in July 2022.

 

Fisher & Phillips remains strong in the space, with frequent engagement on a range of matters including unfair labor practice proceedings, injunctions, damage suits, contract negotiations and arbitrations, strike handling and preventative labor relations strategies. The team has experience defending labor conflicts before the National Labor Relations Board and other administrative agencies. Focusing on collective bargaining agreements and based in the Tampa office, Steve Bernstein jointly leads the team with San Francisco-based Todd Lyon, who regularly advises across the full-suite of labor issues. David Dornak focuses his practice on traditional labor issues, predominantly representing night clubs, ultra-lounges and restaurants in Las Vegas, where he is based.

 

Specialist labor and employment firm Ford Harrison LLP offers deep experience in labor-management relations to clients from a range of industries including healthcare, aviation, restaurants, construction, retail and manufacturing, among others. Key name from the group’s client base are Delta Air Lines, American Air Lines and Publix. North Carolina’s Allen J McKenna, who focuses on union campaigns, collective bargaining and arbitrations, jointly heads up the practice group alongside Paul R. Beshears who is based in Atlanta and is experienced in collective bargaining, labor arbitrations and NLRB unfair labor practices.

Healthcare, energy, transport, construction and media are industries of particular focus for the practice group at Jackson Lewis P.C., working on management-side mandates relating to both contentious and transactional work including organization and representation, labor litigation, collective bargaining and contingency planning matters. Working out of the Atlanta office, co-leader of the labor-relations practice group, Jonathan Spitz, is vastly experienced in handling unfair labor practice trials and advises employers in complex labor relations issues. Fellow co-leader, Hartford’s Richard Vitarelli, is known for his work in the space on strategic labor relations, collective bargaining, multi-employer pension benefits and withdrawal liability issues. Elsewhere in the group, Orange County-based Laura Pierson-Scheinberg focuses on traditional labor issues, union elections and unfair labor practice charges. Phoenix-based Alan Feldman and Maryland's Stephen Silvestri are other important ports of call within the team.

The team at BakerHostetler has a strong record for representing a vast range of clients in diverse industries in the space. Negotiating labor contracts, private sector election campaigns, contingency planning for strike preparedness, and labor-related arbitrations are among the core pillars of the group’s practice. Practice co-leader and Atlanta-based attorney Patrick M. Muldowney  is a key name within the department. The team also has demonstrable experience in proceedings before the NLRB – Jay P. Krupin  is a key lawyer for such matters- working out of the Washington DC office, he co-chairs the department and focuses on collective bargaining agreements. Co-chair Amy J. Traub is New York-based, whilst Paul Rosenberg  acts for important clients in the manufacturing, hospitality, healthcare and media sectors.

Ballard Spahr LLP advises on employer-side mandates across heavily unionized industries, including the manufacturing, transportation and public employer sectors. Core competencies for the ‘efficient and responsive’ team include assisting employers with unfair labor practice cases, high-stakes labor negotiations and arbitrations, alongside corporate campaigns and representation before the NLRB. New Jersey-based attorney Denise Keyser leads the team with long-standing experience in the space. Brian D. Pedrow focuses his practice on the full scope of employment-related litigation, whilst Shannon D. Farmer is praised as ‘extremely knowledgeable‘ and remains another key name in the team for all forms of labor and employment matters. Meredith Dante represents employers from a broad range of industries, including healthcare, insurance and technology. Steven W. Suflas left the practice in November 2022. Attorneys are in Philadelphia, unless otherwise stated.

 

 

DLA Piper LLP (US) handles the full range of matters, with particular emphasis on union organizing and contract administration, advice on the National Labor Relations Act and negotiating collective bargaining agreements. Dallas-based lawyer Marc Katz leads the employment practice group, which also adept at handling labor-related arbitrations, and litigation before the NLRB. An ex-employee of the NLRB, Washington DC’s Harriet Lipkin  is an important name for such matters and she lends her considerable experience to unfair labor practice cases and union organizing efforts. From the New York office, Joseph Piesco  is similarly well-versed on traditional labor matters in the space. San Diego-based attorney Kevin Harlow and of counsel Steve Hernández are key names for defending employers against unfair labor practice charges.

Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. has a strong specialist focus on traditional labor law, with the team seeing frequent work throughout the space. The team has a track record for successfully defending employers in grievance-arbitration proceedings, contract negotiations and collective bargaining agreements – often at a multi-state and national level. Principal names to note from the team include New Jersey’s Jeremy Brown, who counsels employers on matters pertaining to employment discrimination laws, the NLRA and class-action suits. Working out of the New York office, Steven Swirsky represents clients in collective bargaining and proceedings before the NLRB. Fellow New York-based partner David Garland chairs the group.

 

Greenberg Traurig, LLP. has a strong focus on maintaining positive relations between both unionized and non-unionized employers and employees, whilst avoiding costly litigation and prioritizing alternative dispute resolution. Headed by experienced Philadelphia-based practitioner James Boudreau  and Denver-based Naomi Beer , the team has experience through counseling, labor negotiations, mediation proceedings, and litigation at various level of the court system. C0-chair and New York-based attorney Jerrold Goldberg  represents management clients primarily in the real estate and hospitality industries. Boston’s Justin Keith  is well-versed on matters spanning all aspects of traditional labor law. Charles Birenbaum  focuses on traditional labor law matters and leads the firm in defending actor Sean Penn, and his non-profit organization CORE, against an unfair labor practice charge by the NLRB. The team was fortified by the arrival of partners Ellen Bronchetti and Ron Holland to the San Francisco office from McDermott Will & Emery LLP. They are resident in the firm’s San Francisco office.

Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP its robust labor-management litigation practice, with a strong presence in the retail and energy sectors. The team focuses on discrimination investigations, wage and hour litigation, and the preparation of employer-employee policies. Two attorneys jointly head-up the practice: Los Angeles-based Emily Burkhardt Vicente and Kevin White, who splits his time between Washington DC and Houston.

Jones Walker LLP represents management-side clients at both a regional and national level, across all types of employment litigation, including both representative and class actions at all levels of the court system. The team are similarly well-versed in handling a range of traditional labor matters, frequently appearing before the NLRB in the process. New Orleans-based partner Sidney Lewis chairs the group, focusing on a full-range of labor and employment on behalf of industry clients from the retail, hospitality, healthcare and manufacturing sectors, to name a few.

McDermott Will & Emery LLP covers matters concerning union relations, collective bargaining and NLRB negotiations on behalf of major clients operating out of the technology, transportation, alcoholic beverages, airline and arts sectors. Advice and representation around the National Labor Relations Act is another core pillar of the group’s practice. The labor management team is led by Chicago’s Michael Sheehan, while San Francisco’s David Durham provides representation and advice to businesses in all matters involving labor unions. Fellow San Francisco-based attorney Christopher Foster is another key name, leading the firm’s labor subgroup. October 2022 saw the departures of Ron Holland and Ellen Bronchetti.

O'Melveny & Myers LLP maintains its reputation as a strong Railway Labor Act practice and is noted for its particular expertise in the aviation sector, handling a full-range of labor-related issues related to M&A, labor disputes and unfair labor practice charges. The team counts major US passenger and cargo airlines as key clients. Silicon Valley-based attorney Eric Amdursky jointly leads the team in conjunction with Los Angeles-based Apalla Chopra. Also in Los Angeles, Robert Siegel is pre-eminent for his work in the airline sector, acting as outside labor counsel to major US airlines. New York-based Mark Robertson is another key contact within the group, well-known for arbitrations under the RLA. Head of the Washington DC team Aparna Joshi‘s broad practice includes litigation under the RLA, labor arbitrations, mediations and collective bargaining negotiation.

Vedder Price offers specialist advice on substantive and procedural points of law under the National Labor Relations Act and frequently appears before the NLRB in unfair-labor-practice and representation matters. Union organizing, decertification petitions and maintaining union-free status are key focuses of the team. Elizabeth N. Hall  chairs the group, while Eugene A. Boyle  counsels and defends companies in cases spanning all aspects of labor law, and Kenneth F. Sparks  has extensive experience working with health care organizations, logistics companies, and manufacturers on labor litigation matters. Los Angeles-based Candice Zee focuses on traditional labor law matters and NLRB proceedings. All lawyers are in Chicago unless otherwise stated.