Maintaining an Ethical and Compliant Workplace – What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You

Session Type: Management Workshop

Location

Room Number: 206

Available Dates & Times

Description

This panel discussion with question and answers will focus on critical employee ethics practices that companies should consider enacting in order to protect the integrity of their business and workforce.

Speakers

  • Kenneth Block

    Kenneth M. Block is the Construction Chair of Tannenbaum Helpern’s Real Estate, Environmental and Construction Law Department and has more than 40 years of experience in the practice of real estate and construction law, as both a litigator and transactional attorney.  Over the course of his career, Ken has represented developers, owners, tenants, lenders, cooperative and condominium associations, and design and construction professionals. He counsels prominent owners, developers and not for profit institutions in all aspects of construction law.

    In transaction matters, Ken has extensive experience with financing, contracts of sale, development and management agreements, leasing, and outsourcing. He has negotiated countless design and construction contracts and regularly advises clients on structuring real estate acquisitions and dispositions, as well as development and construction projects.

    As a litigator, Ken has successfully handled matters involving land use, contracts of sale, partnership agreements, mortgage foreclosures, loan workouts, commercial and residential leases, cooperative and condominium sponsorship, and real estate brokerage.  He also has handled a wide variety of disputes relating to construction defects, structural and mechanical failures, architectural and engineering malpractice, change orders, delay claims and mechanic’s liens.

    Ken has been selected for inclusion in New York Super Lawyers for 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012, selected for inclusion in Best Lawyers for 2013, listed as a Top Lawyer (Litigation) in Avenue Magazine for 2010, 2011 and 2012, and recognized in Chambers USA as a leading lawyer in construction for 2011 and 2012. Also, he maintains an AV Preeminent Rating from Martindale Hubbell.

    A frequent speaker and author on construction topics, Ken is an adjunct professor in Construction Law at New York University’s Schack Institute of Real Estate and co-authors New York Law Journal’s quarterly Construction Law column.

  • Laura Grossfield Birger

    Laura Grossfield Birger is a partner in the Litigation Department of Cooley LLP.  She is an accomplished trial lawyer, focusing on white collar criminal matters, internal investigations and complex commercial matters.

    Laura has extensive experience in formulating strategy and conducting all types of criminal and regulatory investigations.  Prior to joining Cooley LLP, Laura was a federal prosecutor at the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, where she  served in a variety of important leadership positions, including as Chief of General Crimes and Deputy Chief Appellate Attorney.

    Laura applies her broad experience in investigations and trials to counsel clients and navigate successfully through investigations and prosecutions by a wide variety of government and regulatory agencies as well as commercial disputes.  Recent matters include representing individuals and companies in connection with fraud investigations by the Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission and New York state prosecutors; representing companies in investigations into false billing and certifications in connection with government construction contracts; representing a contractor charged with negligence in the performance of a construction contract; and commercial litigations arising from business and real estate disputes.

    Laura has been regularly selected for inclusion in New York Super Lawyers for white collar criminal defense and is a frequent author on white collar and business crime topics.

  • Andrew Singer

    Andrew W. Singer leads Tannenbaum Helpern’s Employment Law Practice, which offers a full spectrum of legal services from everyday counseling to complex employment litigation.  With extensive experience in all aspects of employment law, he regularly advises companies with various human resource and compliance issues:

    • Employment which includes employment agreements, executive compensation structures, non-complete and confidentiality agreements, restrictive covenant and severance agreements.
    • Regulation/Compliance such as wage-and-hour compliance, governmental audits, federal and state labor laws, independent contractors, misclassification analysis, privacy law, drug testing and background and credit checks
    • HR Policies which include social media policies, technology and e-mail usage, anti-discrimination, employee termination, WARN Act, COBRA, employee handbooks, human resource and compliance counseling, family and medical leave compliance and others.
    • Litigation & Dispute Resolution such as discrimination and retaliation claims, discrimination matters filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the NY State Division of Human Rights and the NYC Commission on Human Rights.

    A frequent speaker on employment law topics and emerging trends, Andrew regularly conducts training seminars for supervisory and managerial employees covering equal employment laws and sexual harassment, the Americans with Disabilities Act, wage and hour laws, independent contractor misclassification, workplace violence, social media policies, the Family and Medical Leave Act and other leave policies, workforce reduction and the WARN Act, and other employment law developments.

    Andrew has been selected for inclusion in New York Super Lawyers for 2010, 2011 and 2012.

  • Joel S. Hirschtritt

    Joel S. Hirschtritt is the Managing Partner of Tannenbaum Helpern Syracuse & Hirschtritt LLP and is one of the firm’s founding partners. He has extensive experience as a real estate lawyer. In over thirty years of practice, he has counseled a broad array of clients on all types of real estate transactions and construction related issues. He is known for guiding clients through unknown territory including governmental investigations, contracts, litigation, and general business representation. With good judgment, broad business experience, and excellent negotiating skills, Joel resolves complex issues and problems in practical ways. Having clerked for a Federal Court Judge, Joel understands litigation, ethics and compliance issues. He works closely with the firm’s Litigation Department and is frequently responsible for litigation strategy.

     

    Joel has been selected for inclusion in New York Super Lawyers for 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2012.