Bleakley Platt & Schmidt, LLP
Bleakley Platt & Schmidt, LLP, has been a leader in the White Plains, Westchester County and Hudson Valley legal communities for over 70 years. Our Firm has a full range of practice groups dedicated to civil litigation and appellate work, trusts and estates, commercial finance and real estate transactions, corporate and health law, and labor and employment matters, among others. We have the diverse skills necessary to address the wide range of issues faced by our clients in virtually all aspects of civil and commercial law from sophisticated and complex litigation to individual estate planning. Our longstanding reputation in the community and in the legal profession for service, excellence and integrity enhances the Firm's ability to advance the interests of our clients in any forum.
The Firm's Labor and Employment Practice Group represents clients in federal and state court litigation involving employment discrimination and harassment claims, wage and hour issues, and other employment-related causes of actions. Our Group also represents clients before the U.S. Department of Labor, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, the N.Y.S. Department of Labor and the N.Y.S. Division of Human Rights, among other agencies, in proceedings concerning labor and employment related claims arising under federal, state and local laws. In addition, the Group represents clients in arbitrations involving claims arising under collective bargaining agreements and individual employment contracts.
Joseph DeGiuseppe, Jr.
Joseph DeGiuseppe, Jr. is the head of our Labor and Employment Practice Group, and has over 30 years' experience in representing and advising employers, employees and unions in all areas of wage and hour law, including his 14 years of experience at Skadden Arps, and more than 6 years of experience at Jackson Lewis. He also advises clients on executive compensation issues, employment agreements, non-competition and trade secret agreements, severance pay policies and practices, and separation agreements and general releases offered in connection with both group and individual employment terminations.
Mr. DeGiuseppe is a member of the New York State, New York City, Westchester and Orange County Bar Associations, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Mr. DeGiuseppe is a member of the New York State Bar, and is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York City, and the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern, Northern and Southern Districts of New York and the District of Connecticut.
Mr. DeGiuseppe has also published numerous labor and employment law articles, including his seminal work on the employment-at-will rule entitled, "The Effect of the Employment-at-Will Rule on Employee Rights to Job Security and Fringe Benefits," 10 Fordham Urb. L.J. 1 (1981), which has been cited by the New York Court of Appeals in the landmark decisions of Murphy v. American Home Products Corp. and Weiner v. McGraw-Hill, Inc. and by other federal and state courts. Mr. DeGiuseppe has also been a featured lecturer at various labor and employment law seminars.