Washington, D.C., (June 9, 2009) -- Jackson Lewis LLP, one of the nation's largest and fastest growing workplace law firms, announced that Alexander J. Passantino has joined the firm as Partner. Mr. Passantino joins the firm upon completing his service as Acting Administrator of the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division. Nominated by President George W. Bush and appointed by Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao, Mr. Passantino led the federal agency that interprets and enforces the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the Davis-Bacon Act, the Service Contract Act, and close to 70 other federal statutes on behalf of approximately 135 million workers in over 7 million workplaces.
Mr. Passantino will work out of the firm's Washington, D.C. Region office in the firm's Wage and Hour Practice Group, working closely with the group’s practice leader -- another former Labor Department Wage and Hour Division Administrator -- Paul DeCamp. Jackson Lewis LLP is the only law firm with two former Wage and Hour Administrators on staff.
“Jackson Lewis is currently handling more than 200 wage and hour class or collective actions, in addition to numerous state and federal agency enforcement actions, and -- as illustrated by the Department of Labor’s announcement of their intent to hire 250 new wage and hour investigators -- the threat of debilitating litigation is ever present and the need for employers to take preventive measures never greater,” says Mr. DeCamp.
“Our clients need us now more than ever not only to defend these matters but more importantly to help avoid them,” he continues. “Alex will provide great expertise to our audit practice, whose objectives are to ‘issue spot’, get clients into compliance and avoid litigation. In addition, having Alex’s expertise and experience across the full spectrum of wage and hour issues and industry settings is an invaluable resource for our clients.”
Patrick L. Vaccaro, firm-wide Managing Partner of Jackson Lewis, says “Wage and hour class actions and multiple plaintiff cases have risen dramatically during the past decade, and so has the reputation of Jackson Lewis as a top legal advisor in this field. We owe a great deal of this to the leadership of Paul and Will Anthony who heads up our class action group. Paul and Alex, along with Will, provide significant depth in this complex and ever-evolving area of our practice. We are confident that with Alex on board our footprint in this area of the law will grow and great things will continue to happen for our clients.”
At the DOL, Mr. Passantino was in charge of approximately 1,300 employees in more than 220 offices nationwide and managed an operating budget of more than $175 million. His responsibilities included enforcement policy, field operations, strategic planning, legislation, regulations, opinion letters, and compliance assistance. He has testified before Congress on a variety of wage and hour issues. During his tenure he received the Secretary’s Exceptional Achievement Award for his work on the seminal report on the FMLA, promoting employer compliance with the 2007 minimum wage increase, and ensuring compliance in the Gulf Coast region following Hurricane Katrina.
Before his appointment as Administrator, Mr. Passantino served as Senior Policy Advisor to the Honorable Victoria A. Lipnic, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment Standards. In that capacity, he was a member of the Wage and Hour Division's Executive Team and provided legal and policy advice on the full range of wage and hour matters, with emphasis on the FLSA, the FMLA, and opinion letters.
Mr. Passantino received a B.A. in Political Science from Emory University and his J.D. from the University of Georgia School of Law, where he was a Notes Editor and member of the editorial board for the Georgia Law Review. After law school, he clerked for the Honorable John F. Nangle of the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Georgia.
About Jackson Lewis
Founded in 1958, Jackson Lewis is dedicated to representing management exclusively in workplace law with 565 attorneys practicing in 41 cities nationwide. Jackson Lewis has a wide-range of specialized practice areas, including: Affirmative Action and OFCCP Diversity Planning; Disability, Leave and Health Management; Employee Benefits, including Complex ERISA Litigation, Workplace Privacy and Executive Compensation; Global Immigration; Labor, including Preventive Practices; Litigation, including Class Actions, Complex Litigation and e-Discovery; Trade Secrets, Non-Competes and Workplace Technology; Wage and Hour Compliance; and Workplace Safety Compliance. In addition, Jackson Lewis provides advice nationally in other workplace law areas, including: Reductions in Force, WARN Act; Corporate Governance and Internal Investigations; Drug Testing and Substance Abuse Management; International Issues; Management Education, including e-Based Training; Alternative Dispute Resolution; Public Sector Issues; and Government Relations.
Additional information about Jackson Lewis can be found at www.jacksonlewis.com
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For more information, please contact: Lara Hamm, Jackson Lewis T: (212) 545-4031, E: hamml@jacksonlewis.com Kara Dullea, Details T: (864) 363.4195, E: kara@detailsdm.com