National labor and employment law firm Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP is pleased to announce Dave Kurtz, Heather Lake, Jon Persky and Don Prophete have been named to Thomson Reuters’ “Stand-Out Lawyers” list for 2023.
Each year, Thomson Reuters surveys more than 2,000 senior in-house legal counsel across the world. The “Stand-out Lawyers” database is comprised of more than 18,000 client-nominated lawyers in private practice. According to Thomson Reuters’ research, these lawyers were recognized because of their ability to improve client satisfaction, increase client advocacy, grow share of wallet, strengthen market position, enhance people engagement, and increase profits per partner.
Kurtz is head of the Boston office, a member of Constangy’s Executive Committee, co-chairs the Firm’s Litigation Department, and leads the Firm’s Technology & Entrepreneurial Ventures industry group and Transactional Solutions practice group. His legal practice involves the representation of unionized and non-unionized employers ranging from Fortune 500 companies to high-tech startups in every imaginable labor and employment-related scenario. Kurtz focuses his practice on resolving employment disputes through litigation, arbitration, and mediation. He also counsels clients regarding matters including hiring and firing decisions, severance agreements, employee handbooks, employee discipline, wage and hour laws, and compliance with state and local statutes, regulations, and case law.
Lake’s practice is devoted to employment litigation and counseling. She represents employers in a broad spectrum of federal and state court litigation and in administrative proceedings, including class actions, wage and hour disputes, claims of wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment and retaliation and violations of other employment-related laws. Lake also counsels employers on strategies for minimizing potential litigation and is regularly involved in providing advice on the practical and legal implications of everyday employment decisions. Lake assists employers in developing workplace policies and procedures, training their employees, investigating employee complaints, discipline and terminating employees, determining exempt and non-exempt status, and reductions-in-force prior to their occurrence to help ensure legal compliance.
Persky has over a decade of experience as a litigator and advocate. He represents employers of all sizes and across all industries in federal and state courts, arbitration, and administrative agencies. Persky regularly appears before the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, and other agencies to defend employers against claims of workplace discrimination and harassment. He has successfully resolved numerous high-value individual claims in early and late-stage mediation with both represented and pro se parties. When litigation is filed, he utilizes his experience in all aspects of the pretrial process, including written discovery, depositions, expert reports, and summary judgment. Persky is also well-versed in appellate practice, having argued at the New Hampshire Supreme Court and filed winning briefs at the First and Second Circuits. In addition to his litigation practice, Persky provides clients with day-to-day counseling and crisis management on a variety of employment issues including hiring, discipline, termination, leave, wage and hour, disability accommodation, union grievances, and collective bargaining.
Prophete is a trial lawyer who excels at representing large clients in complex and multi-plaintiff race employment discrimination cases. He has handled many high-profile and high-damage cases in the sports, military contractor and retail industries. Prophete has served as lead trial counsel in all types of employment disputes in federal and state courts in New Hampshire, New York, Kansas, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Tennessee including post-decertification wage and hour jury trials for major national employers. Prophete’s practice encompasses all aspects of labor law and labor relations. He has extensive experience assisting the firm's clients in responding to union organizing campaigns, negotiating and advising clients with respect to the administration of collective bargaining agreements and representing clients in grievance and arbitration proceedings. In addition to his litigation and labor law activities, Prophete's daily practice revolves significantly around providing advice and counsel to C-Suite executives on whistleblower and other matters in the following business sectors: Technology, Retail, Military Contractors and Manufacturing.
About Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP
Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete offers a wider lens on workplace law. We have counseled employers exclusively since 1946. With offices in 21 states, we are one of the largest labor and employment law practices in the U.S. Constangy has been named as a top firm for women and minorities by organizations including Working Mother Magazine, Law360, the National Law Journal and Vault.com. Many of our more than 200 attorneys have been recognized by leading authorities such as Chambers USA®, The Best Lawyers in America® and Martindale- Hubbell. Find out more about us online at www.constangy.com or follow us on Twitter @ConstangyLaw.