Bret is a Member in Mintz Levin's Employment, Labor & Benefits Section. His practice includes representing employers in labor and employment litigation, including claims arising under FLSA, Title VII, ADA, ADEA, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 151B, Massachusetts Wage Act, as well as state common law, breach of contract, wrongful termination, and defamation claims.
Bret has extensive experience litigating noncompetition and nonsolicitation agreements and executive compensation agreements. He frequently lectures on practice before the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination and on practice before the state and federal courts. He is a Fellow of the Massachusetts Bar Foundation. In August 2000, he was selected by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly as one of the top five up-and-coming lawyers in the state. Bret was also selected for inclusion in Massachusetts Super Lawyers (2007-2011), Super Lawyers United States Corporate Counsel Edition (2010), and has been listed in Chambers USA's America's Leading Lawyers for Business since its U.S. debut in 2004.
Bret writes and lectures extensively on employment law issues. For example, he served as editor-in-chief for the 2011 edition of the Annual Review of Developments in Business and Corporate Litigation. Additionally, he is a contributing author, editing the Employment Litigation chapter of the American Bar Association's Annual Review of Developments in Business and Corporate Litigation (2004-2011 editions). Bret also authored the article "Fighting Back Against 'Bullying' in the Workplace," in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly (January 5, 2007). His speaking engagements include presentations for In House Legal on LegalTalkNetwork (Layoffs and Lawsuits); the Boston Bar Association and West Publishing Company's Boston Bar Association Program (Labor & Employment Legislation Year in Review and What is to Come); the Yankee Dental Congress 2012; the 2008 Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM) Conference (Treble Trouble: Protecting Yourself Against the Penalties Associated with the Wage Act); MCLE (Top 5 Employment Law Trends it Pays to Know); the Boston Bar Association (Damages in Employment Discrimination and Retaliation Cases); MASS Biotech (Keeping Management Out of Trouble: Avoiding Sexual Harassment In The Workplace); MCLE, 2007 and 2008 Employment Law Conferences; SES Seminar (on Harassment and Discrimination, as well as Management Leave and Substance Abuse); 2004 Annual Meeting of the American Bar Association; MCAD Trial Training Seminar; and CEM Seminar (on "Anatomy of a Discrimination Lawsuit from Both Sides").
Bret was elected to the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation, an honorary organization of lawyers, judges, and legal scholars whose public and private careers have demonstrated outstanding dedication to the welfare of their communities and to the highest principles of the legal profession. He is the former chair of the Joint Bar Committee for Judicial Appointments, and currently chairs the American Bar Association's Subcommittee on Employment Litigation. Bret is the former president of the board of directors of the Natick Montessori School. Bret's commitment to pro bono activities is exemplified by his representation of abused women through Mintz Levin's national recognized Domestic Violence Project.
Bret earned his B.A. from the University of Illinois (1989) and his J.D. from St. Louis University School of Law (1993), where he was awarded a Certificate in Labor and Employment Law and received the American Jurisprudence Award as well as the Everett E. Hullverson Award. Bret is licensed to practice in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, the District of Columbia, Illinois, and Missouri. He is also admitted to the Trial Bar of the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.