Biography
Michael concentrates his practice in labor and employment law, serving as a strategic partner to national and regional businesses. He guides employers on labor relations issues, including union organizing elections and decertification elections and negotiating initial and successor collective bargaining agreements. He handles all traditional labor law matters, including union avoidance, election petitions and campaigns, collective bargaining, grievance and arbitration proceedings, unfair labor practice charges, and hearings before the National Labor Relations Board.
Michael has also assisted employers through numerous threatened and actual labor disputes involving picketing, lockouts, and strikes. Michael also defends employers against claims of discrimination and retaliation under a variety of federal and state employment laws.
Michael provides pragmatic and cost-effective labor and employment counseling on federal, state, and local employment laws, including issues involving discipline, termination and reductions-in-force, employee leave, collective bargaining and unfair labor practices, restrictive covenants, and wage and hour compliance.
Before entering private practice, Michael served as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Correale F. Stevens of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
Experience
- Successfully represented a large hospital network in a decertification of a 200+ employee unit.
- Coordinated and successfully strategized to defeat numerous union organizing efforts for large hospital networks, hotel chains, casinos, transportation companies, cannabis employers, and construction companies.
- Successfully navigated a three-week strike for a national transportation company.
- Counseled a national entertainment company through a nine-month strike which ended in the union disclaiming interest in the bargaining unit.
- Successfully defended four whistleblower complaints for a publicly traded pharmaceutical company.
- Successfully defended 25 federal and state religious discrimination/failure to accommodate claims, obtaining 14 dismissals, 10 with prejudice, which were affirmed upon appeal to the Circuit Court of Appeal.
- Successfully defended a 600-employee class/collective action for misclassification and unpaid overtime for a publicly traded pharmaceutical company.
Recognitions
- 2019–2024, “Pennsylvania Rising Star, Labor and Employment,” listed by Super Lawyers
Affiliations
Michael serves as a member of the Pennsylvania and New Jersey Bar Associations, the Sports Lawyers Association, and Phi Alpha Delta Legal Fraternity. He also serves as a trustee for the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf.
Credentials
Admissions
- Pennsylvania
- New Jersey
- U.S. District Court - Eastern District of Pennsylvania
- U.S. District Court - New Jersey
- Supreme Court of New Jersey
- Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
- U.S. District Court - Middle District of Pennsylvania
Education
- Pennsylvania State University, BA
- Widener University School of Law, JD
