Robert S. Hawkins represents employers and rail carriers in labor and employment law matters, especially those involving the transportation, manufacturing, health care and construction industries. He represents clients in labor negotiations, arbitration, litigation, counseling, and both regulated and non-regulated transactions. Bob is a member of the Executive Committee of the firm's Labor and Employment Law Section.
Publications & Speeches
Education
J.D., cum laude, 1983
University of Pennsylvania, M.H. Goldstein Prize, Law Review editor, Order of the Coif
B.A., summa cum laude, 1980
St. Joseph's University
Services/Industries
Labor and Employment Law
ERISA Litigation
Employee Benefits/ERISA
Acquisition and Divestiture Assistance
Employment Litigation
Railway Labor Act
Restrictive Covenant and IP Issues
Traditional Labor Relations
Transportation
Health Care
Admissions
Pennsylvania
New York
Bob's experience includes the Railway Labor Act (RLA), the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act and federal and state equal employment opportunity laws. He was a shareholder with Klett Rooney Lieber & Schorling when it joined Buchanan Ingersoll in 2006.
His representative matters include:
Representation before Presidential Emergency Boards.
Negotiation of collective bargaining agreements for employer associations and individual employers.
Arbitration of disputes arising under collective bargaining agreements and labor protective conditions.
Representation of employers under both the NLRA and RLA in lawsuits enforcing statutory and contractual dispute resolution procedures, especially those involving mandatory arbitration and no-strike obligations.
Representation of rail and non-rail parties in common-situs labor disputes.
Representation of rail carriers on labor aspects of transactions subject to approval by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board and in negotiation or arbitration of implementing agreements pursuant to approved transactions.
Representation of multi-national corporations on international labor issues involving their U.S. business interests.
Serving as special labor counsel in bankruptcy matters involving the purchase or sale of assets and the amendment and/or rejection of collective bargaining agreements.
Advice and counseling on labor aspects of both regulated and non-regulated corporate transactions.
Representation of employers and rail carriers in union organizing and decertification campaigns and representation disputes.
Representation of employers in matters governed by "neutrality" and "card check" agreements, including interest arbitration.
Litigation and counseling on equal employment opportunity matters, especially those arising under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act.
Representation of employers in non-compete litigation.
Bob has been recognized by Chambers USA as one of the leading U.S. business lawyers, and was recognized in the Labor and Employment Law category of the 2008 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. He is a contributing editor of The Railway Labor Act, Second Edition, written by leading practitioners from the American Bar Association's Committee on Railway and Airline Labor Law, Section of Labor and Employment Law and published by the Bureau of National Affairs, Washington, D.C., in 2005. He served on the Practice Management, Operations and Hiring Committees of Klett Rooney Lieber & Schorling.
Following law school, Bob served as a law clerk to the Honorable Alfred L. Luongo, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. |