Jonathan D. Farrell is Co-Chair of the firm’s Labor & Employment Practice Group. Jonathan is Counsel to manufacturing, service, commercial, and management companies, professional practices, non-profit organizations, private educational institutions and insurance companies. An employment and labor relations specialist, Jonathan regularly practices before the National Labor Relations Board and federal courts. He primarily counsels employers on Labor Law (NLRA, LMRA) ERISA and withdrawal liability, as well as work on hour laws (federal and state) and various EEO laws.
He has been selected as a “New York Super Lawyer” from 2013 – 2025, in the area of labor and employment law. Only five percent (5%) of New York-metro attorneys have been named to this prestigious list. Jonathan has also earned an “AV” rating from his peers in both skills and ethics, the highest legal rating awarded by the legal rating publisher Martindale-Hubbell. Only two percent (2%) of New York metro attorneys have earned an “AV” rating.
Jonathan practices and defends employers before the National Labor Relations Board. Jonathan regularly represents employers in unfair labor practice investigations and trials, representation hearings and compliance proceedings. He has been counsel to employers in well over Three Hundred Fifty (350) unfair labor practice investigations. Unlike most labor and employment attorneys, Jonathan has litigated several unfair labor practice trials before administrative law judges of the National Labor Relations Board as well as Section 10(j) and Section 10(k) proceedings of the National Labor Relations Act in federal court. Even more rare, Jonathan has been successful and victorious against the Board.
Jonathan has been involved in approximately Fifty (50) unionization campaigns for various companies. In all but five campaigns, Jonathan has been involved in the employees elected to remain union free. Jonathan also represents unionized employers in their arbitrations before the American Arbitration Association and New York State Employment Relations Board, assists unionized employers during their collective bargaining negotiations, or conducts the negotiations for them, and advises unionized employers on a daily basis regarding contract interpretation, union issues, and union grievances.
Because of Jonathan’s experience in traditional labor law, he has developed an expertise in the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act (“MEPPA”) and represents employers in connection with withdrawal liability assessments. Jonathan has represented clients in literally hundreds of withdrawal liability matters, including, but not limited to, arbitrations and litigations, Section 4204 Asset Sales, regulatory and compliance issues, as well as many other matters.
Since 2010 Jonathan has represented employers and resolved, via a Settlement Agreement, approximately seventy-five (75) contested withdrawal liability disputes involving approximately fifty-five (55) different companies. Jonathan has been counsel in connection with between fifty (50) and seventy-five (75) Section 4204 corporate transactions involving over Two Billion Dollars ($2,000,000,000) in assets. Jonathan regularly advises regarding MEPPA Compliance and regulations. Jonathan’s MEPPA practice is as extensive as it is varied. Jonathan has been retained as an expert in corporate disputes among ownership regarding various withdrawal liability issues including but not limited to: 1) the present value of pending withdrawal liability assessment; 2) the applicability of the construction industry exception; and 3) the net liquidation value of the corporation among other issues. Very few management attorneys in the Metropolitan Tri-State area can even claim to have as much experience representing employers in connection with withdrawal liability cases and transactions.
Jonathan has successfully represented various employers in over Seven Hundred (700) wage and hour investigations at the state and federal level in connection with minimum wage, overtime and prevailing wage actions. Jonathan has represented employers before the United States Department of Labor, New York State Department of Labor, Bureau of Public Work, and Attorney General’s Office, General Labor Bureau.
Jonathan is panel counsel to insurance companies in the areas of Employment Practice Liabilities Insurance and Directors & Officers Insurance.
In 2024 Jonathan was awarded the Lawrence Solotoff Award for Distinguished Professional Achievement by the Labor Law Committee of the Nassau County Bar Association. According to the Bar Association, the award recognizes individuals who demonstrate the highest level of character, integrity, professional expertise, and leadership in the field of labor and employment law.
Jonathan is admitted to practice before the federal and state courts of New York. Upon graduation from Hofstra University’s School of Law, Jonathan received the University’s “Award for Excellence” in the field of Labor and Employment Law and the Industrial Relations Research Management “Award for Excellence” in Industrial and Labor Relations.