Our Focus Is You, The Employer
You and your organization’s needs — those are the focus of the Labor and Employment attorneys of BMO. We concentrate on prompt, responsive legal services tailored to what you need and want. We serve management exclusively, and always have.
Skirting The Shoals of Labor Law
The traditional law of labor relations can be waters filled with reefs and rocks. It’s not a place to be alone and without a guide. BMO’s lawyers have decades of experience in labor law in service to both private sector and Florida public sector employers. Union avoidance, union election campaigns, bargaining, grievances and arbitrations, unfair labor practice litigation — we’ve done it all and done it many times. We’ll be there to help you pilot these tricky passages and get out the other side still afloat.
Navigating The Maze of Employment Law
Employment law is really many laws, from equal employment compliance to whistleblower litigation and everything in between. The lawyers of BMO can help you craft and administer sensible policies and procedures that can help you avoid or defuse employment disputes before they grow into expensive and demoralizing litigation. If litigation does occur, we can handle it, from federal trials and appeals to state court to agencies such as the EEOC or Florida Commission on Human Relations.
About Us: A Depth of Experience and Expertise
All the primary labor and employment partners are board-certified by the Florida Bar in Labor and Employment Law. We are experts in this broad, disparate and intricate area of the law. BMO’s labor-employment lawyers have decades of combined experience representing employers. We are experienced and successful trial and appellate lawyers. We value our clients and strive to build close, personal and long-lasting relationships. We have served some of our clients for 10, 20 and 30 years or more. That doesn’t happen without dedication, understanding and success. That’s what we bring to every client, old or new.
Some Of What We Do
- Employment Litigation
We are experienced trial lawyers with a long practice in state and federal courts at both the trial and the appeals levels. We have a depth of experience before labor and employment-related administrative boards, from local personnel boards to the National Labor Relations Board.
- Personnel Policies And Procedures
We have reviewed, drafted and revised hundreds of employment policies to help employers understand, comply with and apply the scores of laws that govern employment today. Well-thought-out and applied policies are the cornerstone of avoiding employment problems before they arise.
- Everyday Advice
One of the most overlooked but most practical and helpful aspects of employment legal services is helping you and your organization deal with the multitude of unpredictable questions that come up every day. Knowing what you’re doing and doing it right the first time saves trouble and expense.
- Investigations
It’s unfortunate, but sometimes an organization needs someone from the outside to look into troubling information that has come up. We have handled numerous situations of this kind and understand the mix of discretion, sensitivity and skill that is required. We can help the organization and its decision-makers cut through the fog, find the facts, frankly assess them and make a firm and fair decision.
- Florida Public Employer Pension Plans
Florida Law strictly governs public employer pension plans. Employers should not leave this little-known and complex area of the law to the pension board or union lawyers who serve other constituents and do not have the employer’s interests in mind. We advise the plan sponsor — the entity that bears most of the expenses; we do not represent boards, employees or unions — we represent you.
- Union Avoidance
The best way to approach labor law is to avoid having to deal with it at all. We can counsel employers, whether public or private sector, on policies and communications with employees that can help avoid conditions that make a workplace ripe for the unions’ picking.
- Union Representation Campaigns And Elections
No workplace is organized by a union in a vacuum. There are always warning signals and signs. We can help you see them, understand what’s coming, and deal with it successfully. We are experienced in the intricacies of representation petitions, hearings, campaigns and elections, and have a long and successful track record.
- Collective Bargaining
From initial contracts to renewals after 30 years of representation, BMO’s labor lawyers have helped and counseled scores of employers in bargaining at the table or behind the scenes, as lead spokesperson or legal adviser.
- Grievances And Labor Arbitrations
Dealing with contract grievances and arbitrations is one of the most active areas of our labor practice. We have been involved in hundreds of arbitrations and have a decades-long knowledge base of arbitral law and the labor arbitrators and union lawyers active in Florida.
- National Labor Relations Board Proceedings
BMO’s labor lawyers have been dealing with the NLRB beginning in the 1970s and continuing to the present day. We are familiar with its processes from representation through litigation in the federal courts of appeals.
- Florida Public Employees Relations Commission
We are intimately acquainted with PERC and how it operates. We deal with this agency and its officers frequently and have a familiar and deep understanding of it and the law it enforces.
- Charges Of Discrimination
It is all too easy for disgruntled employees to blame their employment misfortunes on others and file charges of discrimination with federal, state or local agencies, such as the EEOC. We can help employers with these agencies’ procedures, from investigations and mediation to position statements to litigation.