Chelsea L. Hartnett

Chelsea L. Hartnett is a principal in the Baltimore, Maryland, office of Jackson Lewis P.C.

Chelsea advises employers in labor and employment matters, with a focus on traditional labor issues. Her objectives in every client interaction are to listen, understand the business goals and achieve them through pragmatic advocacy. She helps clients understand how they may achieve their operational objectives, as opposed to what they cannot do.

Chelsea is a trusted advisor and strives to be an extension of her client’s team. She assists unionized employers in collective bargaining, contract advice, grievance management, arbitration proceedings and litigation before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Her experience in collective bargaining ranges from serving as chief spokesperson to developing strategy behind the scenes. She assists employers to comply with union contracts, avoid grievances where appropriate, and respond to grievances. When litigation is unavoidable, she has tried arbitrations ranging from discharge, contract interpretation issues and litigation involving other collective bargaining rights. She also has experience with government contractors subject to the Service Contract Act.

For non-unionized employers, Chelsea creates and advises on union and litigation avoidance strategies tailored to the employer’s industry and culture. Her background includes preventive advice for both large and small clients across industries, including healthcare, cannabis, manufacturing and hospitality. She has extensive experience in responding to NLRB representation proceedings, corporate campaigns and demands for card check and neutrality.

Chelsea regularly conducts management training on topics such as positive employee relations, management best practices, and preventing workplace discrimination and harassment.

Beyond traditional labor matters, Chelsea advises on employment matters, including accommodation requests, complex separations, policy development and review, and internal investigations in response to discrimination and harassment complaints. She also defends clients against administrative charges before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and state and local agencies.

Before entering private practice, Chelsea served as an intern staff attorney with an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) and regional office of the NLRB. While in law school, Chelsea was a member of the Public Contract Law Journal and received the ABA/BNA Academic Award for Excellence in Labor and Employment Law. She is a Chapter Editor for Bloomberg’s Developing Labor Law.

Honors and Recognitions

• The Best Lawyers in America©, “Ones to Watch: Labor and Employment Law – Management” and “Ones to Watch: Litigation – Labor and Employment” (2021-present)
• Maryland Super Lawyers®, “Rising Stars” (2022-present) 

No aspect of this or any advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey. For all award methodology, see Awards and Honors Methodology.

Published Works

• “Getting a Fair Shake: Reducing the Perils of Worker Misclassification on Federally Funded Construction Projects,” Public Contract Law Journal, Vol. 44 (Winter 2015) [Author]