lawyer

#Labor and Employment

Areas of Study

Overview

Business productivity and worker quality of life are both shaped by developments in labor and employment law. NYU Law is unusual among the very top law schools in the size and quality of its full-time faculty in this field.

The Big Picture

Labor and employment lawyers work on complex legal matters that profoundly and directly affect the lives of real people. Disputes between employees and employers are pervasive in our society and collectively represent more than 20 percent of the caseload of the federal and state courts. These disputes touch on all elements of the employment relationship, involving workers as individuals, as members of protected groups (e.g. race, gender, age, disability), and as participants in collective action (e.g. unionization and collective bargaining). They arise under local, state, federal, and international laws that utilize the full range of legal rules and regulatory tools. With globalization, American lawyers also increasingly deal with treaties and other sources of international law as well as foreign nations’ labor and employment laws. Our rich course offerings cover the full range of issues comprising the practice and study of labor and employment law.

Labor and employment lawyers work across a wide range of practice modalities, such as litigation, negotiation (including collective bargaining), compliance, alternative dispute resolution, policy-making, community organizing, and business planning. They practice in law firms of all sizes; in-house at corporations and labor unions; in civil-rights and other public interest organizations; at all levels of government; and as arbitrators and mediators.