Lecturer Bios
Richard B. Friedman, Esq.
Richard Friedman is a former AMLAW 100 employment and business litigation partner and an experienced trial lawyer. He handles all kinds of employment-related matters such as those involving investigations of alleged employee misconduct, covenants not to compete, employee discipline and terminations, discrimination claims, fiduciary duty claims, wrongful discharge claims, defamation claims, alleged misappropriation of trade secrets, and related issues for companies of varying sizes as well as individuals in New York state and federal trial and appellate courts as well as other venues.
Richard’s most recent blog article discusses several noteworthy National Labor Relations Board decisions concerning a few of the do’s and don’ts involving employer social media practices and policies and employee posts on social media. The article can be accessed via the following link.
Richard also represents individual clients in employment-related matters and disputes. He has advised individual clients with respect to their rights and obligations arising out of restrictive covenant provisions and negotiated numerous employment and severance agreements on behalf of such clients. Richard has also counseled experienced lawyers in connection with their ethical obligations when changing law firms.
In addition, Richard aggressively represents clients in a wide range of business litigation matters, including contract and licensing agreement disputes, partnership disputes, real estate litigation, and post-judgment enforcement proceedings. Richard has a particularly active practice in the New York County Commercial Division and was appointed by the former Chief Administrative Judge to the Court’s Advisory Committee on which he continues to serve with the ten judges of that court.
Jennifer T. Klausner, Esq.
Jennifer Tafet Klausner is a partner in the Litigation and Labor & Employment Practice Groups of Davis & Gilbert and the co-chair of the firm’s Diversity Committee. Her extensive experience includes handling sophisticated commercial matters, including intellectual property, real estate, and contract disputes. Clients routinely seek Ms. Klausner’s tactful and on-target advice when handling sensitive labor and employment matters. She has litigated and defended lawsuits and administrative charges in federal and state courts and before government agencies involving claims of unlawful discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, and whistleblower activity. Ms. Klausner works closely with clients to achieve their business goals in every litigation matter. Her success includes obtaining favorable rulings in restrictive covenant litigations in the marketing and communications industries. She also has a strong track record of resolving employment-related claims before a case is filed, saving clients from costly litigation.
When conducting and overseeing internal company investigations of alleged harassment and misconduct, Ms. Klausner is known for her thoroughness and fairness. She also provides training and counseling on these issues to senior leadership teams and employees to actively prevent and mitigate risk.
Ms. Klausner’s trial experience includes representing clients in both state and federal courts, and arguing appeals before the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court. She has also worked extensively with clients to resolve disputes in arbitrations and mediations and has obtained numerous favorable results. In recognition of her achievements, Ms. Klausner was selected as a Super Lawyer by New York Metro Super Lawyers (2013-2017).
Galit Kierkut, Esq.
Galit Kierkut focuses her practice in the areas of restrictive covenants, privacy, and trade secret counseling and litigation, as well as in matters relating to employment discrimination, harassment, whistleblowing, employee leave and accommodation. She represents national and international employers in their U.S. operations in the pharmaceutical, manufacturing, financial, hospitality, food service, retail and health care industries in state and federal courts, as well as before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and various Departments of Labor. She also trains and counsels employers in virtually all employment compliance areas. Galit is a member of Greenberg Traurig's Health Emergency Preparedness Task Force, a multidisciplinary, collaborative team drawn from the firm's offices around the world.
In addition to her employment practice, Galit has wide-ranging experience in complex commercial litigation in state and federal courts, and serves as outside general counsel to certain of her clients. Galit is a strong advocate for women’s advancement in the law, and has been honored for her leadership in this area by a variety of organizations. She is a past president of the New Jersey Women Lawyers Association and is an active member of the National Association for Women Lawyers.
James McQuade, Esq.
James McQuade, an employment partner in the New York office, represents clients in high-stakes employment, trade secrets and restrictive covenant litigation throughout the United States.
Jim's practice focuses on matters involving trade secret misappropriation and the enforcement of post-employment restrictions. Jim has conducted numerous temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction hearings in connection with these types of cases. Jim also has extensive experience defending employers on a broad range of employment matters, including whistleblowing, discrimination, retaliation and wrongful termination matters.
In recognition of his career trade secrets and restrictive covenant work, Jim has been inducted into the Legal 500 Hall of Fame for Trade Secrets Litigation. Jim also serves as Co-Editor-In-Chief to Orrick's acclaimed Trade Secrets Watch blog.
Joseph Piesco, Esq.
Joseph Piesco represents employers in litigation before federal and state courts, administrative agencies and arbitration panels, with a major focus on employment-related class actions, including wage and hour class and collective actions, ADEA actions and actions under Title VII and concomitant state anti-discrimination laws. He also conducts training on issues, including: separation agreements, terminations and other disciplinary actions; reductions-in-force; employment policies and practices; wage and hour auditing; Title I and Title III ADA compliance and audits; anti-harassment and workplace diversity; and workplace violence.
Joseph also has a longstanding management-side traditional labor law practice, with an emphasis on real estate development and mergers and acquisitions in the hospitality industry, and he represents clients in connection with collective bargaining negotiations, strikes and union arbitrations.
Related services: Employment
John G. Stretton, Esq.
John Stretton is a Shareholder in the Stamford office of Ogletree Deakins with nearly twenty years of experience. Clients view John as a resourceful counselor and aggressive litigator who never loses sight of a client’s business objectives and need to establish value. In addition to providing proactive counseling and advice, John is frequently sought out to represent clients in discrimination, noncompete, confidentiality, wrongful termination, wage and overtime, breach of contract, unfair trade practices, intellectual property, and complex litigation matters in state and federal courts and administrative agencies.
John also has extensive experience drafting and negotiating executive employment agreements and agreements concerning data use, privacy, and security. John regularly counsels clients on the enforceability of restrictive covenants (non-solicitation, non-competition and confidentiality clauses), in addition to litigating restrictive covenant cases. Based on feedback from both in-house and outside counsel, Chambers USA identified John as a “Leading Lawyer” in 2017 and 2018 and proclaimed that John wins praise for his “fantastic quality of work and turnaround time” and his ability to “apply a business acumen to the legal knowledge he has.”
John has also been named a New England Super Lawyer and a Connecticut Super Lawyer in 2013 – 2018 and was recognized in the area of Employment & Labor. From 2010 through 2012, John was named a Connecticut Rising Star and was recognized in the area of Employment & Labor. Additionally, John was selected by the American Institute of Legal Counsel for its 10 Best – Labor and Employment List in 2016.