Areas of Practice
Labor and employment law

Representative Experience
Has worked with a diverse group of industries ranging from manufacture, printing, education, trucking, warehousing construction, financial institutions, grocery and health care.

Practice today is focused almost exclusively in the representation of health care organizations: hospitals, nursing homes, home care agencies, mental health agencies and other related ancillary services.

He has worked with both private and public sector hospitals in several states, including public hospitals in Florida, Washington, and California.

Offers preventive counseling in workplace/human resource arena.

Provides advice to many business clients on labor and human resource issues, including sexual harassment, discipline to minimize litigation and liability, what managers need to know about employment litigation.

Extensive experience in union avoidance and the negotiation and administration of collective bargaining agreements.

Developed a manual widely used by hospital to prepare for the possibility of a strike and strike management.

Successfully worked through the merger of two community hospitals where the nurses at one hospital were under a union contract and the other hospital’s nurses were unrepresented. The outcome was a merged organization with no union representation.

Counseled with management and negotiated with a unit of NLRB certified physicians to the end that physicians rejected the union and the clinic group successfully withdrew recognition from the union. This was accomplished with no NLRB charges being filed.

Worked successfully with interest based bargaining to not only achieve mutually satisfactory conclusions to negotiations but to build improved relations, sometimes significantly so, between labor and management.

Is known for bringing creative solutions to resolve difficult negotiations.

Has sometimes turned concessions characterized by unions as “take aways” in bargaining to collaboration for the sake of the organization to achieve the desired management result.

Creative solutions have been used to avoid the strike of over 1,000 employees at a three hospital system and in another hospital bringing a nursing strike to an earlier conclusion.

Has worked with management and unions with the philosophy that the hallmark of successful negotiations is a process concluding in a peaceful settlement that works for both parties and unites them in common goals.

Education
J.D., Northwestern University School of Law, 1963

• Order of the Coif
  
• Editorial board, Northwestern Law Review

Bar Admissions
Missouri, Washington, California State Bars

United States Supreme Court

United States Court of Appeals

2nd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th Circuits and for the District of Columbia

Professional Involvement
American Hospital Association, Society of Health Care Attorneys

National Council of Community Hospitals

National Labor Relations Act Task Force for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Federal Mediation and Conciliation Task Force for Health Care Negotiations

American Bar Association Developing Labor Law Committee

American College of Labor and Employment Law Attorneys

Member and past Chair of a national committee of management labor attorneys emphasizing hospital practice

Healthcare Research and Development Institute – previous client

Community Involvement
Hope Heart Institute

Special Labor Counsel to the Pacific Northwest Ballet

University of Washington School of Nursing

Honors
Recognized in each edition of the Best Lawyers in America

Recognized in all recent editions of Whos Who in American Law

Recognized in all recent editions of Whos Who in America

Recent Speeches and Conferences
Regularly conducts information and training seminars and workshops for clients and professional groups

Lectured on Managing Employees for Productivity – managers in both the union and union free work places need to manage for positive attitude with a goal of improved performance. In the union free work place, the byproduct of positive management is that it stays union free. In the unionized work place the byproduct is improved relations with negotiations becoming less adversarial and thus less difficult.

Union Organizing, A Hospital Manager’s Guide

Managing Without Liability

Interests
Reading, Boating, Traveling, and Fishing