Former Leader at Littler Mendelson Joins Seyfarth’s Preeminent Labor & Employment Department

Seyfarth Shaw LLP announced today that Glenn J. Smith has joined the firm’s Labor & Employment department as a partner in New York. Smith joins Seyfarth following 11 years at Littler Mendelson PC, where he recently served as a member of the firm’s board of directors and served as the office managing shareholder of its Newark, New Jersey office.

Smith holds a comprehensive national and local practice representing a variety of employers in all aspects of labor and employment law, including large scale and multi-employer collective bargaining. He frequently represents clients before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), as well before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the Department of Labor (DOL), and multiple federal and state courts.

“It’s exciting to welcome such a prominent labor lawyer to Seyfarth at a time when labor concerns are surging across the country,” said Lisa Damon, chair of Seyfarth’s Labor & Employment department. “Glenn is also a veteran law firm leader and former general counsel who brings the type of firsthand experience that is invaluable to clients navigating today’s market.”

Smith regularly represents employers in conflicts involving labor unions, arbitrations and unfair labor practice litigation and often provides strategic labor relations counselling and planning, including items relating to relocations, plant closures, job automation and subcontracting. Additionally, he has expertise in employment agreements and compensation arrangements, employee benefit plans including Taft-Hartley benefit funds, post-employment restrictive covenants and wage and hour matters.

“Glenn is a well-recognized and respected lawyer throughout the East Coast, with deep connections in New Jersey,” said Lorie Almon, co-managing partner of Seyfarth’s New York office. “Glenn truly understands the many emerging employment issues facing companies today, and he is the latest strategic addition to our preeminent Labor capabilities across the country.”

“I’m eager to start practicing at Seyfarth, a firm of great tradition, stability and strength in the labor space,” explained Smith. “I have had the privilege to know and work in the past with a number of the outstanding lawyers at Seyfarth, and I am honored to join the team.”

Earlier in his career, Smith served as general counsel of the Grand Union Company, a regional food retailer with annual sales then of $2 billion. He also served as general counsel for Duane Reade, a New York based pharmacy chain with 8,000 employees and annual sales at the time of $1 billion. In addition, Smith served for a brief time as deputy general counsel of the metro division of C&S Wholesale Grocers, Inc., a national food wholesaler that had acquired the assets of Grand Union.

A highly ranked lawyer by Chambers and Partners and a frequent speaker, Smith received a J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law. He earned a M.B.A. and B.S./B.A. from Seton Hall University’s Stillman School of Business, where he then served as a graduate fellow and an adjunct faculty member, teaching the MBA program’s capstone course.

Smith’s arrival follows the recent addition of Labor & Employment partners Leon Rodriguez, former director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services at the Department of Homeland Security, to Seyfarth in Washington, D.C. and Robert Fisher in Boston. In 2016, Labor & Employment partners John L. Telford, Jr. and John A. “Jack” Lambremont also joined Seyfarth from Littler in Atlanta.