Overview
Nick litigates and counsels with respect to complex employment disputes, including in relation to antidiscrimination laws, restrictive covenant agreements, executive employment agreements, discipline, discharge, and disability, among other issues, in federal and state courts, administrative agencies, and arbitral fora.
Nick also concentrates on the defense of ERISA class actions challenging the administration of health care benefit plans, 401(k) plans, and defined benefit plans. In these matters he regularly litigates and counsels on sophisticated legal issues arising in ERISA litigation, including preemption, standing, exhaustion, fiduciary duties, disclosure obligations, withdrawal liability, plan termination, and benefit accrual.
Education & Admissions
Rutgers University School of Law - Newark (J.D., 1987)
Harvard College (A.B., 1984), cum laude
Admissions
- New York
- New Jersey
- Florida
- U.S. Court of Appeals 2nd Circuit
- District of New Jersey
- Eastern District New York
- State of Florida
- Southern District New York
- U.S. Supreme Court
Languages
- Modern Greek
Clerkships
- Middle District of Florida, Honorable Susan H. Black, 1987-1988
Experience
- Representing a financial services firm against claims of sex discrimination in pay and promotions by two former sales directors.
- Representing a consulting firm in a trade secrets dispute in the Delaware Court of Chancery with a former managing director in Milan, Italy.
- Defending a global investment management frim in an arbitration proceeding brought by a key member of the firm’s investment management group who departed with members of his team to set up a new, completing fund.
- Representing the estate of a former nuclear power services company in connection with WARN Act litigation arising out of the company’s bankruptcy.
- Defending a Dutch public company and various subsidiaries in the currency exchange business in connection with a wrongful discharge lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by the former CEO and minority shareholder of a subsidiary company.
- Representing a consulting firm in a trade secrets dispute in the Delaware Court of Chancery with a former managing director in Paris, France who left to join a competitor.
- Representing a portfolio company of a private equity firm in a series of disputes with three former executives regarding claims for substantial severance benefits under their change-in-control agreements.
- Representing a hotel company a lawsuit by a competitor claiming misappropriation of trade secrets in U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas.
- Representing an insurer/administrator and various plans a putative ERISA class action brought in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona by a chiropractic provider and plan participants alleging that benefits were improperly denied as “experimental or unproven”.
- Representing an educational institution in a putative ERISA class action filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida by a former faculty member claiming to have been denied pension and welfare benefits due to misclassification as an independent contractor.
News & Resources
Articles
News & Press Mentions
Podcasts
- Co-Author, “New York Enacts Revival Statutes, Renewing Expired Claims for Sexual Assault,”(New York Law Journal at p3. August 2, 2022)
- Co-Author, “Recent Guidance and Amendment Shed Light on NYC Salary Disclosure Law,” (New York Law Journal at p3. June 1, 2022)
- Author, “Pros and Cons of Arbitration After Recent FAA Amendments,” (New York Law Journal at p.3, April 6, 2022)
- Author, “New York Mandates Express Employee Consent to Electronic Monitoring,” (New York Law Journal at p.3, February 2, 2022)
- Author, “Accommodating Employees Disabled by “Long COVID,” (New York Law Journal at p.3, December 1, 2021)
- Author, “NLRB’s General Counsel Signals Possible Expansion of Weingarten Rights,” (New York Law Journal at p.3, October 6, 2021)
- Author, “Recent Employment Law Developments in California,” (New York Law Journal at p.3, August 4, 2021)
- Author, “Mandating COVID-19 Vaccinations in the Workplace,” (New York Law Journal at p.3, June 2, 2021)
- Co-Author, “A Shift in Federal Government Priorities For Diversity, Equity and Inclusion,” (New York Law Journal at p.3, April 7, 2021)
- Co-Author, “NYC Bans At-Will Employment For Fast Food Workers,” (New York Law Journal at p.3, February 3, 2021)
- Co-Author, “Restrictions on Employee Change of Jobs: Antitrust Challenges to “Non-Compete” and “No-Poach” Clauses,” (ABA Journal Labor & Employment, Volume 34, No. 2, December 14, 2020)
- Co-Author, “The Duty To Bargain During The COVID-19 Pandemic,” (New York Law Journal at p.3, December 2, 2020)
- Co-Author, “Choice-of-Law Provisions in Restrictive Covenant Agreements,” (New York Law Journal at p.3, October 7, 2020)
- Co-Author, “Marijuana and the Workplace,” (New York Law Journal at p.3, August 5, 2020)
Events & Speaking Engagements
Select Presentations
Industries & Practices
Banking & Financial Institutions
Explore This Practice View client achievements related to this practice View resources related to this practiceLabor & Employment Guides
Explore This Practice View client achievements related to this practice View resources related to this practice- Banking & Financial Institutions
- Class Action Litigation
- Commercial Litigation
- ERISA Litigation
- Healthcare Litigation
- Labor & Employment
- Labor & Employment Guides
Professional & Civic
Professional Achievements
Nick’s work has garnered him significant recognition by legal and business media.
- Since 2014, Chambers USA has recognized him as a leading lawyer nationally and in New York in several employment-related areas.
- Lawdragon has recognized him as one of its “500 Leading U.S. Corporate Employment Lawyers,” and its predecessor subsidiary listed him as one of its “Top 20 Lawyers in Employee Benefits” since 2012.
- Since 2013, Nick has been listed as a recommended lawyer by Legal 500 US in several employment-related areas.
- Since 2020, Benchmark Litigation has recognized him as a Labor & Employment “Star” in its New York editions.
- Additionally, in 2013, Law360 recognized him as one of four nationwide “MVPs” in the healthcare space.
Community Involvement
- Former Co-Chair of Civil Procedure subcommittee of Employment Benefits Committee of the ABA’s Section of Labor and Employment
- Member of the Trade Secrets Committee
- Former member of the Litigation Committee, the Labor and Employment Law Committee and the Benefits Committee of the New York City Bar Association.