NEW YORK, USA
USA Brian S. Cousin, Neil A. Capobianco & Jonathan E. Goldberg, Ronald B Weisenberg and Lauren Breitman Tanen
Seyfarth Shaw Adds Team of Labor and Employment Attorneys to New York City Office Brian S. Cousin, Neil A. Capobianco and Jonathan E. Goldberg Join Firm Partnership; Of Counsel and Associate also Join Firm New York, NY — Seyfarth Shaw LLP, one of America’s leading full-service law firms, today announced that a team of employment law attorneys and litigators headed by Brian S. Cousin joined the firm’s New York office.
In addition to Cousin, the team includes partners Jonathan E. Goldberg and Neil A. Capobianco. Cousin had been a shareholder at Greenberg Traurig where Goldberg and Capobianco were of counsel. Ronald B. Weisenberg and Lauren Breitman Tanen also join Seyfarth Shaw; Weisenberg as of counsel and Tanen as associate. Previously, they were both associates at Greenberg Traurig.
All five follow the earlier addition of former Greenberg Traurig shareholder Richard Scharlat who joined Seyfarth Shaw’s Labor and Employment Department as a partner in the New York office in January.
“Brian and his team are adroit litigators and they provide their clients with strategic, insightful counsel across the full spectrum of employment law matters,” said J. Stephen Poor, Chair and Managing Partner of Seyfarth Shaw. “Their skills complement the strengths of our Labor and Employment Department nationally, and they deepen our team of talented labor and employment attorneys already in place in our New York office.”
Cousin is an experienced employment litigator with particular strengths in ERISA, restrictive covenant, trade secret, and discrimination litigation. He also has extensive experience advising U.S. and multi-national companies and executives in all aspects of employment law.
In addition, Cousin and the team are experienced in representing businesses in many different industries including technology, health and fitness, retail, hospitality, wine and spirits, pharmaceutical, real estate, insurance, and financial services. Prior to joining Seyfarth Shaw, Cousin served as Leader of his former firm’s New York and New Jersey Employment Litigation Practice and Leader of that firm’s National ERISA Litigation Practice and National Executive Contract Group.
At Seyfarth Shaw, Cousin will be the Co-Chair of the firm’s National ERISA Litigation Practice and a member of the firm’s Labor and Employment Steering Committee. Cousin is also expected to be a leader in the firm’s Litigation and Labor and Employment practices in New York. The firm is already Chambers’ rated in both ERISA and Employment Litigation, with practitioners across the country, and Cousin and his group add significant depth to the existing team.
“I know I speak for all of us when I say we’re thrilled to join Seyfarth Shaw’s stellar team of labor and employment legal practitioners,” said Cousin. “Our practice at Seyfarth Shaw will be enriched by the unsurpassed knowledge-base of our colleagues in New York and throughout the firm.”
Capobianco specializes in ERISA and wage and hour class action litigation and has represented and advised management in all aspects of labor, employment and employee benefits law. He has also successfully defended his clients from employment-related claims, as well as enforcing and defending restrictive covenants, among other accomplishments. He has spearheaded anti-harassment training for employees of clients and has represented employers before the EEOC, state and local human rights agencies, the unemployment division, and the federal and state departments of labor.
Goldberg’s practice focuses primarily on employment litigation, complex commercial litigation, and ERISA litigation, and he has successfully litigated in federal and state courts throughout the country.
“Brian, Jonathan, Neil, Ron, and Lauren are experienced attorneys whose work and counsel strengthen the growing bench of labor and employment attorneys who have joined the New York office over the past few years,” said Lorie E. Almon, Co-Managing Partner of Seyfarth Shaw’s New York office and Vice Chair of the firm’s national Wage Seyfarth Shaw Adds Team of Labor and Employment Attorneys to New York City Office and Hour Litigation Practice Group. “We look forward to integrating Brian and his team with our exceptional pool of labor and employment attorneys to build upon our group’s ongoing success.”
Seyfarth Shaw’s Labor and Employment Department consists of roughly 350 employment attorneys nationally at all levels of experience, allowing seamless representation of the firm’s clients across jurisdictions. In New York, with the addition of Cousin and the team, the Firm now has over forty labor and employment lawyers. The firm’s labor and employment lawyers are organized to leverage their knowledge of specific industry experience and key workplace subspecialties such as: Affirmative Action/Diversity, Business Immigration, California Labor Code Litigation, Complex Discrimination Litigation, ERISA/Employee Benefits Litigation, Employment Law Training, International Labor and Employment, Single-Plaintiff Litigation, Wage and Hour Litigation, and Workplace Counseling and Compliance Solutions.
“Brian’s strength in ERISA litigation, along with his team’s accomplishments in restrictive covenant and trade secret litigation, create a terrific convergence nationally with our Employee Benefits and Litigation Departments,” said Jeremy P. Sherman, Chair of the firm’s national Labor and Employment Department.
“Brian is an elite and extremely versatile complex litigator, which is a hallmark of Seyfarth Shaw’s Labor and Employment practice. I am delighted to welcome the entire group to the firm.” Cousin received his B.A. from Columbia College and earned his J.D. from Rutgers School of Law Newark where he served as an Editor of the Rutgers Law Review. He is admitted to the state bars of New York and New Jersey, and he is admitted to practice before several U.S. District Courts, as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals for both the Second and Third Circuits. He is also a Member of the New York State Bar Association’s International Employment Law Committee and a Member of the American Bar Association’s Litigation and Employment Law Sections. Capobianco is an alumnus of the University of Wisconsin,Madison, where he received his B.A. He earned his J.D. (magna cum laude) at New York Law School where he served as Editor of the New York Law School Law Review. Capobianco is admitted to the state bars of New York and New Jersey, and he is admitted to several U.S. District Courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the Supreme Court of the United States. He is a Member of the New York Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law Section. Goldberg graduated with his B.A. (with honors) from Swarthmore College, and he earned his J.D. (summa cum laude) at American University Washington College of Law where he was Senior Articles Editor of the American University Law Review. He is admitted to the state bars of New York and New Jersey, as well as several U. S. District Courts and the Second and Third Circuits of the U.S. Court of Appeals.
He is a Member of the American Bar Association and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. He is a Member of the Board of Directors of the America-Israel Cultural Foundation. Weisenberg received his B.S. from Cornell University and earned his J.D. at Fordham University School of Law. He is admitted to practice law in New York, New Jersey, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Tanen has a B.A. from Colgate University and earned her J.D. at Brooklyn Law School. She is admitted to practice law in New York and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York. She is also a Member of the American Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law Committee and a Member of the New York State Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law Section.
Placement by Beatrice O’Brien of Attorney Placements International LLC of the entire practice group to Seyfarth Shaw www.seyfarth.com