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Michael J. Lebowich is a partner in the Labor & Employment Law Department and co-head of the Labor-Management Relations Group. He represents and counsels employers on a wide range of labor and employment matters, with a particular interest in the field of traditional labor law.

Michael acts as the primary spokesperson in collective bargaining negotiations, regularly handles grievance arbitrations, assists clients in the labor implications of corporate transactions, and counsels clients on union organizing issues, strike preparation and day-to-day contract administration issues. He also has significant experience in representation and unfair labor practice matters before the National Labor Relations Board.

His broad employment law experience includes handling of race, national origin, gender and other discrimination matters in state and federal court. A significant amount of his practice is devoted to counseling clients regarding the application and practical impact of the full range of employment laws that affect our clients, including all local, state and federal employment discrimination statutes, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and state labor laws.

Michael has substantial experience in a wide variety of industries, including entertainment, broadcasting, newspaper publishing and delivery, utilities and lodging. He represents such clients as The New York Times, BuzzFeed, ABC, the New York City Ballet, PPL, Pacific Gas & Electric, Host Hotels and Resorts, and The Broadway League (and many of its theater owner and producing members).  Michael also has significant public sector experience representing, among others, the City of New York and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Michael is a frequent guest lecturer at Columbia Business School, the Cornell School of Hotel Administration, the New York University Tisch School for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management, and is an advisory board member of the Cornell Institute for Hospitality Labor and Employment Relations.

On April 9, 2025, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a brief order, staying the District Court’s order reinstating former National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) Member Gwynne A. Wilcox.  The Board is now left without a quorum for a third time, which, under the National Labor

On March 28, 2025, the United States District Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit stayed the District Court’s order reinstating former National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) Member Gwynne A. Wilcox.  The Board is again left without a quorum, which, under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA” or

President Trump has nominated Crystal Carey to serve as the next National Labor Relations Board General Counsel.  The appointment is subject to Senate confirmation.  If confirmed, Ms. Carey would replace the current Acting General Counsel William B. Cowen, former Regional Director in the NLRB’s Los Angeles Regional Office.

The position

On March 6, 2025, a D.C. federal judge reinstated former National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) Member Gwynne A. Wilcox, restoring the Board to a quorum, which under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA” or the “Act”) requires at least three members. See New Process Steel, L.P. v. NLRB

Not waiting for the appointment of a new General Counsel after President Trump’s discharge of both the previous General Counsel and then Acting General and suggesting that his motivation related to the workload of the Agency, on February 14, 2025, National Labor Relations Board’s current Acting General Counsel William B.

On February 1, 2025, five (5) days after President Trump fired NLRB Member Gwynne A. Wilcox, and NLRB General Counsel Jennifer A. Abruzzo, President Trump fired the NLRB’s second-ranked attorney, NLRB Deputy General Counsel Jessica Rutter.  Rutter briefly served as the NLRB Acting General Counsel after Abruzzo’s termination on