Bredhoff & Kaiser, P.L.L.C. Firm Information

BREDHOFF & KAISER, P.L.L.C.		Firm Information

Firm Information Attorney Profiles Recruiting Home		Bredhoff & Kaiser, P.L.L.C., is a thirty lawyer Washington, D.C. law firm with a national practice representing a diverse group of clients ranging from individual teachers and firefighters to labor unions and other non-profits, benefit funds, political figures and lawyers. Our particular focus is on the representation of labor organizations; we have been referred to in the press as “the voice of labor,” and members of the firm regularly appear on lists of the best labor lawyers in the country. Our practice includes not only traditional labor law, but also constitutional issues, civil rights issues, election and campaign-finance issues, a full-scope benefits practice, assisting nonprofits on the broad range of their institutional legal concerns, grand jury and congressional investigations, and other matters of public importance. Perhaps the best way of describing Bredhoff & Kaiser, P.L.L.C. is to outline some of the areas in which the firm's practice has concentrated: Supreme Court and Appellate Work Our Supreme Court practice is distinctive, and dates back to the founding of the firm in the 1950's. From the earliest days of the firm to the present, we have represented parties and amici before the Court in vitally important labor, First Amendment, federalism, and civil rights cases. The firm's attorneys briefed and argued, for example, the seminal Steelworkers Trilogy concerning the role of federal courts in labor arbitration; Perry v. Sindermann, which established the First Amendment and procedural rights of non-tenured teachers in public schools; and Steelworkers v. Weber, which held that a collectively bargained affirmative action plan did not violate Title VII. In more recent years, our Supreme Court practice has continued to flourish. In the past two years, we represented amici curiae in several cases, including the landmark affirmative action case, Grutter v. Bollinger, an important Free Exercise case, Locke v. Davey, several worker protection cases and a copyright case. We represented the plaintiffs in Simmons-Harris v. Zelman, an Establishment Clause challenge to Ohio's private school voucher program and in New York Times v. Tasini, which held that a commercial electronic database service such as Nexis must obtain the consent, not only of the newspaper, but of the author, if it wishes to include a freelance newspaper article in its database as a separately retrievable and printable item. The Firm also represented the petitioners in major federalism cases involving the right of state employees to sue state agencies for monetary relief under the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. In the lower federal appellate courts and in state supreme courts and appellate courts, our practice is active as well. For example, last year, we handled appeals in an important Title VII case, a significant Family and Medical Leave Act case, a notable ERISA case, and two cases dealing with the circumstances under which unions may charge "agency fees" to nonmembers. Through our representation of public employee organizations -- including the National Education Association, the nation's largest teachers' union -- we have, over the years, handled literally hundreds of federal appeals in the area of constitutional rights of public employees, many of which have been argued by associates. Complex Civil Litigation Trial-court litigation constitutes the most substantial proportion of the firm's docket. Our litigation practice is nationwide, mostly but not entirely in federal courts, and involves a broad and ever-changing range of substantive areas, including RICO, the First Amendment, public employee due process and equal protection rights, election and campaign finance law, workers' health and safety law, equal employment opportunity rights, the common law of contracts, and pension rights. We represent parties both as plaintiffs and as defendants in many of these areas. We also represent plaintiffs in a variety of tort matters. Among the noteworthy matters on our current docket are the preparation of a possible lawsuit challenging the unfunded mandates imposed by the "No Child Left Behind Act," the prosecution of two lawsuits challenging, on state constitutional grounds, voucher statutes enacted in Colorado and Florida, and a class action lawsuit seeking to restore health benefits to a group of several hundred retirees who lost their health insurance as a result of an effort by a major corporation to shift its health care liabilities to a new underfunded company that promptly failed. Our current litigation work also includes cases in which the firm has been retained to defeat the increasing use of RICO as an employer counter-attack against modern union bargaining and organizing strategies called "corporate campaigns" or "strategic campaigns." Among these cases are a suit by the Food Lion grocery chain against the United Food and Commercial Workers stemming in part from the publicity surrounding the ABC News expose of the grocery chain's meat handling and labeling practices, and a lawsuit filed against the Steelworkers by an employer who is in a labor dispute with that union. Collective Bargaining, Interest Arbitration, and Issues Arising Out of Labor Disputes The firm negotiates collective bargaining agreements on behalf of many international and local unions, in both the private and public sectors. The firm also advises unions, including pilot unions and other airline industry unions, on complex merger, bankruptcy, and corporate reorganization issues that affect workers' seniority and other rights. In addition, the firm is often called upon to represent unions in special situations arising out of major national strikes and labor disputes. The firm, for example, represented the Major League Baseball Players Association in its successful effort to secure an injunction against a lockout imposed by the owners, and it represented the Association of Professional Flight Attendants in a major interest arbitration as well as in numerous other proceedings stemming from the union's 1993 strike against American Airlines. More recently, the firm represented the Steelworkers in the arbitration arising out of the lengthy labor dispute at Kaiser Aluminum, and before that, in a series of interest arbitrations covering the nation's largest steel manufacturers. In addition, the firm regularly handles interest arbitrations for public employee unions and other unions that are prohibited by statute from striking, such as the National Postal Mail Handlers Union and local police and firefighter unions. The firm also regularly advocates on behalf of individual employees in wrongful discharge and other grievance arbitration proceedings. Congressional and Grand Jury Investigations, Criminal Litigation, and Related Matters The firm also has been involved in representing individuals and institutions in congressional and grand jury investigations, and occasionally in criminal trials. In the congressional investigation area, we have, for example, represented the AFL-CIO in the Campaign Finance Investigation launched by the Senate Government Affairs Committee, and we have represented other institutions or individuals in connection with congressional hearings involving such matters as sweatshops in the garment industry and the financing of union elections. We also have been retained by a number of institutions to conduct internal investigations or to conduct investigations of entities with whom our clients transact business. In addition, we have been involved in the grand jury investigation into the financing of the Teamsters' 1996 election, in the campaign finance task force investigation, the "Filegate" investigation, and a number of other independent counsel investigations. We also have an active practice advising attorneys on ethical issues and in representing attorneys who have been accused of violating the Rules of Professional Responsibility. Employee Benefits The dramatic growth in employee benefit plans since the passage of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 is reflected in the growth of the firm's employee benefits practice. The firm is counsel to numerous pension trusts and health and welfare trusts, including statewide public employee funds and large private funds. The firm's employee benefits practice involves both the regular provision of advice and counsel to such funds and litigation on behalf of funds and on behalf of individual employees in connection with pension rights and related issues. Additional information regarding Employee Benefits.