EMPLOYMENT PRACTICE GROUP

Overview

Cummins & White, LLP's Employment Practice Group offers innovative and affordable employment counseling and litigation services to companies of all sizes.  Our lawyers have extensive experience in helping clients avoid legal problems before they happen through effective and clear advice on how to comply with the numerous state and federal laws that regulate the workplace.  However, when an employer does find itself embroiled in a lawsuit, our lawyers have the skill, knowledge and experience to provide an aggressive defense in both state and federal courts to all kinds of employment related claims. 

Cummins & White provides employers with creative and responsive knowledge and experience in employment law counseling and litigation for virtually every industry. Firm attorneys have a thorough understanding of employers’ needs and respond promptly with a practical, result-oriented approach to day-to-day problems confronting management.

Cummins & White regularly advises clients on disputes pertaining to discrimination, sexual harassment, breach of contract, defamation and restrictive covenants, including the enforcement of non-competition and confidentiality agreements and protection of employers’ trade secrets.

Our employment practice takes a proactive role in helping employers create strategic approaches to employment relations. We don't wait for problems to occur. We emphasize preventive measures, human resources planning and the redesign of employment relations. The overall goal for our clients is simple: minimize liability, maximize productivity.

Employment Counseling

Cummins & White provides quality counseling services with an eye towards the prevention of employment disputes and litigation.  We believe the first step is to ensure that our clients have an understanding of the issues facing them by auditing; drafting and/or revising employee handbooks, policies and procedures; providing counseling and assistance regarding hiring and firing, including work force reduction; training on employment law issues such as sexual harassment, employee privacy issues, substance abuse testing and medical or disability issues.  Cummins & White lawyers also counsel and draft employment, non-compete and confidentiality agreements.  We continually provide advice on executive compensation and benefits, Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI) and corporate governance issues. 

Our extensive experience in the defense of lawsuits on behalf of our employer clients well positions us to serve as employment counselors, often allowing us to resolve employment disputes before a lawsuit is filed.  Cummins & White helps draft policies and procedures designed to develop effective and productive employer-employee relationships and to avoid problems before they arise. Firm attorneys encourage clients to contact the firm for relatively inexpensive “preventive counseling” and the review of their personnel practices in an effort to avert expensive litigation. While Cummins & White always seeks to attain management objectives with minimal litigation risk, the firm is well equipped to defend any type of employment dispute.

Employment Litigation

Cummins & White experienced lawyers defend employers of all sizes against all forms of employee claims from the time an allegation is first made to resolution at trial.  Such claims may include sex, race, age and disability discrimination, sexual harassment, Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA) violations, failure to pay prevailing wage, wage and hour violations, discrimination suits relating to hiring, firing, promotion and compensation, and wrongful termination actions brought in both State and Federal courts.  Our litigation services also include defending or prosecuting actions related to non-compete agreements, trade secrets and trademark infringement.

Cummins & White attorneys are adept at resolving problems through alternative dispute resolution at the administrative level, or in aggressive, focused litigation.  We strive to keep our clients fully informed throughout the litigation process to allow our clients to make informed and cost conscious decisions regarding settlement, alternative dispute resolution and trial.

Benefits & Executive Compensation

Cummins & White lawyers offer a full range of transactional services as well as ongoing counsel on benefits and compensation matters to employers.  Our significant experience and expertise regarding the laws and regulations that govern benefits and compensation matters enable us to offer focused, comprehensive and practical advice on design and compliance issues.  We help employers balance advantages and risks for effective benefit plans and other compensatory arrangements. 

We work with businesses and their officers, boards and compensation committees in all facets of designing, drafting, implementing and administering executive compensation arrangements and employee benefit plans. In these matters we employ our expertise in the relevant tax, employment, corporate, securities and stock exchange laws and regulations, as well as our knowledge of accounting issues and customary practice and benchmarks, to provide our clients with holistic and practical advice.  Our ERISA and benefits lawyers work with you to help ensure that all your plans achieve business objectives, avoid costly disputes, keep up with economic and regulatory change and are administered to help you save time and money. 

The Employment Practice Group assists clients of all sizes in complying with the technical requirements of the Internal Revenue Code (the Code) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). Our attorneys specialize in the design, implementation and administration of various types of employee benefit programs, such as defined benefit plans, profit sharing plans, 401(k) plans, employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), employee stock purchase plans, executive compensation plans, group health plans, and cafeteria plans. Clients serviced by Cummins & White range in size from sole proprietorships to large corporations. 

Cummins & White also plays an integral role in corporate merger, acquisition and divestiture transactions, advising both acquiring and acquired companies on identifying and disposing of assets and liabilities inherent in compensation and benefit plans, planning opportunities relating to integrating work forces and benefit plans and strategies for negotiating these issues in the transaction.

A Final Word

We believe that management’s best defense in today’s litigious society is to be proactive in adopting effective policies and procedures, providing effective training for managers, and making well informed decisions. Working with other practice groups at Cummins & White, the Employment Practice Group can quickly assemble an experienced and knowledgeable team to address any issue faced by an employer.  We believe that informed employers are the best employers.