Labor and Employment law practitioners frequently take considerable pride in their experience – the number of times they’ve been to court, for example. At the Labor and Employment Law group of DeCotiis, we view things a little differently -- we take considerable pride in the number of times we have not been in court. Labor and Employment law is a preventive, anticipatory specialty. Our job is to think ahead – to help our clients identify and remedy potential problems before they arise, and to prevent small matters from becoming big ones. We strive to help our clients stay out of court.
The DeCotiis Labor and Employment group practices a broad spectrum of labor counseling and employment law for both public and private sector clients. Our public sector clientele includes school boards, municipalities and counties throughout New Jersey. Private sector representation includes a wide range of corporations in multiple industries.
Our work has virtually every area of labor and employment law. A partial listing of these matters would include:
Negotiating a wide range of collective bargaining agreements;
Defending clients in unfair labor practice proceedings, grievance arbitrations, and interest arbitrations;
Investigating, settling, and when necessary, defending both public and private sector employers in employment discrimination, wrongful termination, "whistle blower" actions, restrictive covenant enforcement, unfair competition proceedings, wage and hour matters, safety and health matters and employee benefits litigation; and
General labor and employment law counseling.
We regularly appear before the Public Employees Relations Commission, the New Jersey Department of Personnel, the Office of Administrative Law, the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, the Commissioner of Education and numerous other state and Federal labor boards. Our attorneys also have extensive experience in both state and Federal courts at all levels throughout the country.
Many of our lawyers have experience as clients – we know firsthand the importance of minimizing the impact of labor and employment issues. These matters are a distraction – demanding time, energy and money that could be far better spent elsewhere. We also understand that labor and employment issues are sometimes tried in the court of public opinion and if improperly handled, can generate unwelcome publicity and press coverage.
Our extensive compliance counseling practice is intended to help manage these issues in advance. We specifically help clients address emerging and evolving workplace discrimination and employee benefit issues. We also develop and present workplace seminars on labor and employment issues for our clients.
Our attorneys are also well versed in internal investigations of employment matters, as well as drafting and revision of personnel and/or policy manuals relating to all personnel activities. Further, our attorneys are actively involved in the Labor and Employment Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association and many other professional employment law organizations that keep us abreast of developing legal issues in our field.
Whatever the situation, the labor and employment attorneys at DeCotiis can meet every client need in this ever-changing area of the law.
