Labor Law

We provide our clients with the full range of legal services associated with management-side labor law, including advice and representation during organizing campaigns, the negotiation of collective bargaining agreements and related proceedings such as grievance proceedings, mediation, fact-finding and arbitration, and defense and representation of employers before the Massachusetts Department of Labor Relations (“DLR”) and the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”). Our attorneys provide a full range of management-side labor law services to help our clients comply with all applicable laws and regulations, manage workplace expectations and disputes, and meet the challenges of the modern unionized workplace. These practice areas include:

Our attorneys have represented clients in hundreds of arbitrations and contract disputes and have a proven track record of success for our clients. We provide counseling and advice on contract interpretation, as well as the risks and benefits associated with proceeding to arbitration. When arbitration is the best option (or inevitable), we represent clients from the selection of an appropriate arbitrator all the way through the judicial confirmation or appeal of the arbitrator’s award, when necessary. Regardless of the complexity of the issue in dispute, our client-oriented and reliable attorneys work as a team to achieve the best possible result for our clients at each stage of the dispute, and, when in the best interests of our client, to obtain the best possible settlement.
Our lawyers possess in-depth knowledge and experience in all areas of labor and employment law, and representing employers in their interactions with unions is one of the foundations of our practice. We represent clients at all levels and in all aspects of disciplinary and grievance proceedings. Because we are exclusively a management-side firm, we have experience in practically every type of dispute an employer might face and we maintain innovative and proactive approaches to resolving these disputes.

Our attorneys regularly give advice and provide representation on matters related to compliance with state and federal laws, including employment discrimination, sexual harassment, Family and Medical Leave Act leave and Resources/FMLA Materials and the Americans With Disabilities Act. In addition, we pride ourselves on keeping our clients informed of changes in the law through monthly client advisors and periodic email blasts.

Articles

Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity
Client Advisor Articles: July, 2013, February, 2013

Internal investigations are key to understanding what has happened or what is happening in a workplace and evaluating employee complaints and concerns. Selecting the right investigator can be crucial. Our attorneys understand this and are available to conduct investigations or counsel employees tasked with conducting investigations in order to avoid potential compliance violations and help clients get to the bottom of what are often complex and emotionally charged situations. In addition, we are available to help clients evaluate evidence and make sound decisions.

Our attorneys have thousands of hours and years of experience at the bargaining table on behalf of unionized employers. We also support employers in bargaining even when we are not at the table. We have negotiated contracts involving police, fire fighters, teachers, administrators, department heads, clerical employees, paraprofessionals, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, and more.

We have bargained complex health insurance and other benefit changes, and we are familiar with the ins and outs of the Group Insurance Commission (“GIC”). We have also bargained changes in the school schedule and the use of teacher evaluation tools. In short we are familiar with virtually every wage, benefit or working condition that customarily appears in collective bargaining agreements, and some others that are not so customary.

We are skilled at drafting contract language that will have the results intended by our clients because we understand how language will be interpreted in the real world, and in the world of arbitration. We also understand how contract language might interact with state or federal law affecting the employment relationship.

We are well versed in Massachusetts public retirement law and the issues that present themselves as employees and employers attempt to navigate the state’s complex and often confusing retirement systems. In Massachusetts, there are over a hundred individual retirement systems that are overseen by the Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission (“PERAC”). Our attorneys understand the state’s public employee retirement law and procedures and are familiar with appearing before PERAC and the Contributory Retirement Appeals Board (“CRAB”).