Practice Areas

Labor Litigation

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Our success in enforcing agreement terms in courtrooms and arbitrations provides credibility to our mediation practice. This often permits us to settle nonbinding mediations on favorable terms.

Our practice has achieved a reputation of unparalleled excellence in pursuing or defending against labor-related litigation on behalf of private and public sector unions. In addition to representing labor organizations, we also represent individual union officials.

Experience

We have extensive experience assisting clients at the charge stage, before an administrative law judge, before the National Labor Relations Board, and at all levels of federal and state court proceedings.

Our litigation experience includes injunction proceedings, breach-of-contract actions, grievances, unfair labor practice charges, representation matters, secondary boycotts, handbilling, picketing, unit clarifications, and union decertifications. We also have experience with challenging employer attempts to avoid collective bargaining obligations through mergers, acquisitions, and plant relocations.

Industries

Our industry experience covers a wide spectrum including sports, education, manufacturing, service industries and air and rail transportation. We also represent numerous public sector unions, including those representing police, fire and school employees.

Related Practices

In addition to traditional labor law litigation, we also maintain a significant litigation practice including pension plan withdrawal liability, severance and shutdown benefits, and active and retiree health care. For more information on our Multiemployer & Public Plans practice, please click here. For more information on our overall Benefits Litigation practice, please click here.

Awards

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Who’s Who Legal Awards

Charter Fellows of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers

Former Chairs of the American Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law Section

New York Super Lawyers

Former Chairs of the New York State Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law Section

Former Chair of the American Bar Association’s Equal Employment Opportunity Committee

AV Peer Review Rating by Martindale-Hubbell

Practice Highlights

  • Successfully litigated a high-profile plant relocation case whereby millions of dollars of back pay were collected and the union was awarded recognition at the relocated workplace.
  • In a uniquely favorable result, the court directed an employer to pay the union’s attorneys’ fees after we successfully enforced, through litigation, an arbitrator’s award in favor of the union.
  • Successfully litigated numerous cases to either stop double-breasted operations or secure favorable long-term union contracts to limit double-breasting.
  • Obtained an NLRB decision barring the merger of a subsidiary’s longstanding union pension plan into the multi-national parent’s non-collectively bargained pension plan.
  • Obtained summary judgment, on behalf of a large state-wide labor union, dismissing a class action that sought substantial damages for alleged violations of the duty of fair representation and ERISA in connection with pension benefits.
  • Successfully litigated NLRB Section 10(j) injunction cases. In one instance we obtained an order barring a plant relocation within the United States. In another, we obtained an order requiring recognition of the union and application of the labor contract by a successor employer at a relocated workplace.