Brian S. Arbetter, partner with Baker & McKenzie LLP, has extensive experience helping companies and trade groups respond to and address employment and labor relations issues, both within the United States and abroad. He represents employers and management exclusively. As practice group chair in the Chicago office, his practice areas are compensation and employment law. He focuses on domestic and international employment law, labor relations and union law, general employment advice, employment litigation, and employment regulation. Mr. Arbetter frequently writes and speaks on labor and employment law issues, and he is often quoted in leading news sources. He is also involved in pro bono work in conjunction with the Northwestern University School of Law Legal Clinic. A member of the American Bar Association (Labor and Employment Law Section; Fair Labor Standards Act Committee; Corporate Counsel Committee; former co-chair, YLD Labor and Employment Law Planning Board), Mr. Arbetter is also a member of the Chicago Bar Association (Labor and Employment Law Committee, Corporate Counsel Committee, and past chair of International Law Committee), the Illinois State Bar Association (Labor and Employment Law Section), and the California State Bar Association (Labor and Employment Law Section). Mr. Arbetter earned a J.D. in 1991 from the University of Chicago Law School, where he was development editor of The University of Chicago Legal Forum, and a B.S. in engineering and public policy in 1988 from Washington University in St. Louis. He is admitted to practice in state and federal courts in Illinois and California, and in federal court in Michigan. Mr. Arbetter has also been admitted pro hac vice in cases before courts in Connecticut, Florida, New Jersey, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Washington.
Andrew J. Boling, partner with Baker & McKenzie LLP, practices in the area of compensation and employment law, focusing on international employment law. Mr. Boling represents employers and management in a variety of cross-border employment and labor matters. Likewise, he represents employers in enforcing confidentiality agreements and covenants not to compete in the cross-border context, in implementing global work force reductions and collective redundancies, in preparing cross-border employment and assignment agreements, in preparing and implementing performance management systems; in preparing and implementing global codes of conduct and corporate social responsibility programs, and in resolving conflict of laws issues. In addition, Mr. Boling counsels employers on the prevention of harassment and discrimination on a global basis. Mr. Boling also counsels and represents employers and management in all types of U.S. employment and labor matters. He has represented companies in hundreds of lawsuits and administrative proceedings throughout the United States in litigation involving state and federal employment discrimination laws, wrongful discharge, individual employment contracts, employee disloyalty, compensation and commission disputes and work-related tort claims. Mr. Boling has written extensively on employment law topics and lectures on employment law issues, most recently on the extraterritorial application of US employment laws, data protection laws and employee privacy, cross-border enforcement of restrictive covenants, and cross-border employment agreements. He has lectured on employment law topics throughout the United States, China, Mexico, Canada, and Europe.
Mr. Boling is a member of the American Bar Association, the Chicago Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association, the DuPage County Bar Association, and the Defense Research Institute. In 1999, Mr. Boling was one of 263 employment attorneys from around the world selected for inclusion in An International Who's Who of Management Labor & Employer Lawyers. He has been selected for inclusion in each subsequent edition. Since 2001, Mr. Boling has been listed by Euromoney Magazine as one of the world’s leading experts in employment law. Mr. Boling received his JD, as a Harno Scholar, from the University of Illinois College of Law in 1984 and a BA (Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude) from Augustana College in 1980. He is admitted to practice in the US Court of Appeals, Second and Seventh Circuits; the Trial Bar of the US District Court; Illinois; the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois; and the Illinois Supreme Court.
Matthew T. Gomes is a partner with the Atlanta, Georgia, office of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP, with a focus on labor law and employment litigation. He earned a B.A. in history and geography, with distinction, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1995, where he was Phi Beta Kappa. Mr. Gomes earned a J.D., cum laude, from Washington and Lee University School of Law in 1998. He represents businesses of all sizes and in multiple industries throughout the country in litigation involving all aspects of the employment relationship, and he provides preventative counseling and training for employers on human relations issues. He has been selected as a “Rising Star” by Law & Politics magazine, and he has been featured in Who’s Who in American Law, Who’s Who in America, and Who’s Who in the World. He was born in Southampton, New York, grew up in Pompano Beach, Florida, and currently lives in Atlanta with his wife, Kim, and their son, Austin.
Scott E. Gross is a partner in the litigation department of Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon. He joined the firm in 2008 after twenty years at Sidley Austin LLP, where he practiced employment and labor law. For over two decades, he has counseled companies, large and small, on a wide variety of issues related to employment liability and litigation. He has served as lead counsel in dozens of class and individual cases before both federal and state courts, as well as federal agencies such as the Department of Labor, the National Labor Relations Board, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He regularly defends and advises clients on matters involving company-wide employment practices and discrimination disputes, Employee Retirement Income Security Act claims, Sarbanes-Oxley and other whistleblower claims, union management disputes, workplace harassment, corporate restructurings, the Family and Medical Leave Act, drug and alcohol testing programs, executive contracts, and non-competition agreements.
Stewart S. Manela is the Labor, Employment, and OSHA Practice Group Leader at Arent Fox LLP. He has specialized in the field of labor, employment, civil rights, occupational safety, and litigation for more than thirty years. Mr. Manela is a fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers and is admitted to practice in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. He is a member of the Council of the Labor and Employment Law Section (LEL) of the American Bar Association. Mr. Manela previously served as co-chair of the section’s student trial advocacy competition committee, marketing committee, and employment rights and responsibilities committee, as well as the management program chair and co-chair of the trial advocacy, the ethics, and the covenants not to compete subcommittees of the employment rights and responsibilities committee. He is a frequent lecturer on employment topics, litigation, and disability topics, and is also an adjunct professor at George Mason University Law School, where he has taught labor law. Mr. Manela was editor in chief of Employee Duty of Loyalty, published by the Bureau of National Affairs, and served as executive editor of the Human Resources Management Reporter, published by Warren Gorham & Lamont. He has been a frequent speaker on whistleblower claims under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act at American Bar Association meetings and the Law Education Institute, and his article on that topic was published in the National Law Journal. His article on electronic communications was published in The Practical Lawyer. Mr. Manela is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin and George Washington University Law School, where he was the editor of a Law Review issue dedicated to labor relations.
Stephen B. Stern, counsel at Thompson, Loss & Judge LLP, is active in the areas of employment law, commercial litigation, and insurance law. He has successfully represented clients in jury and non-jury trials in federal and state courts and before federal, state, and local administrative agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Department of Labor. Mr. Stern’s cases have included allegations of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, Family Medical and Leave Act violations, wage and hour violations, whistleblower protection under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, breaches of non-competition and other employment agreements, misappropriation of trade secrets, and COBRA violations. He also has represented companies and individuals in lawsuits involving matters such as breach of contract claims, private company shareholder disputes, fraud, consumer protection law, interference with contractual relations or prospective economic advantage, defamation, false imprisonment, professional discipline, and civil rights violations. In addition, he has represented insurers in coverage matters, including litigation, involving claims under directors and officers and employment practices liability policies. He also has defended insurers in mass tort litigation where plaintiffs have attempted to impose new duties on insurers in different jurisdictions around the country. Mr. Stern’s practice also includes advising employers on how to avoid liability by implementing and developing effective employment policies and practices, and handling other day-to-day concerns. In addition, clients have retained him to investigate allegations of misconduct such as fraud, drug use and/or distribution, whistleblower complaints, sexual and other unlawful harassment, or discrimination. He has worked with both large and small employers, ranging in size from fewer than twenty employees to several thousand employees. He also has represented employers in diverse industries such as retail, financial services, real estate development, health care, manufacturing and distribution, hospitality, and software, as well as the association and non-profit sectors.
