Labor & Employment Law Section

Message from the Chair

As the Chair of the Labor and Employment Section I would like to welcome you to the Section’s home page. We value your visit, and hope that you become a member of the Section, or even better an active Section member, if you are not already involved. We have a strong Section but are always looking for ways to improve and add value for our members. If you have comments or suggestions (good or bad), would like to submit an article for publication in our Newsletter or in The Labor and Employment Corner of The Federal Lawyer, or want to become more active, please feel free to email me at jgonzalez@jgl.com.

Our Section is unique in that it serves all aspects of public and private sector lawyers with an interest in labor law, employment litigation, employee benefits and workplace issues. Section membership also provides opportunities for leadership, professional recognition and education. We have an active board that confers monthly. Board members come from across the United States and represent a cross-section of the many areas of law that constitute the labor and employment law practice. We are proud to have a confluence of talents from counsel representing agencies, plaintiffs and defendants.

Last year was outstanding for our Section highlighted by the well-deserved Outstanding Service Award received by our Immediate Past Chair James Hammerschmidt on September 10, 2011, during the FBA Annual Meeting and Convention in Chicago.

We are looking forward to an exciting year for our Section. We have begun the planning of the 5th Bi-Annual Labor and Employment Law Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana to be held on May 2 and 3, 2013. As has been the norm in the past conferences, our guest speakers will include distinguished public and private practitioners, as well as federal judges. They will provide participants important insights into how new developments in labor and employment law will impact employers and employees, as well as lawyers practicing in these specialized fields including corporate counsel. We hope you can join us in May 2013 for a great conference that will end just hours before Jazz Fest begins in the great city of New Orleans.

This year we will continue our efforts to provide moderately priced short CLE Sessions through webinars and programs with local chapters. We will announce the dates soon.

In addition to CLE, the Labor and Employment Section provides its members with regular information about current developments in the law through its Circuit Updates. Each month -and sometimes more frequently- Section members from around the country send case summaries about important decisions in their respective circuits. These summaries are collated and sent to our members. We hope that you are receiving the Circuit Update emails and finding them useful. If you are not receiving them or would like to be a contributor, please contact Sherwin Valerio to get on the list. We welcome all contribution.

Another goal for this year is to revamp our award winning Newsletter for the benefit of our members.

Please come join us! We are sure that you will find interesting and valuable experiences if you do. If you are already a member, please, make full use of your membership. Contact any of the board members if you would like to participate in Section leadership or writing opportunities. Your ideas and experience will help the section grow and are always welcomed. 

José Gonzalez-Nogueras