New York, June 2, 2005 – LAWFUEL – The Law News Network – Sidley Austin Brown & Wood LLP announces that Cliff Fonstein has joined the firm’s national employment and labor practice as a partner, resident in the firm’s New York office. Mr. Fonstein will focus on labor and employment law and employment class action litigation.
Mr. Fonstein advises and litigates on behalf of Fortune 500 companies on a variety of employment and labor issues ranging from executive contracts to the defense of discrimination, trade secret and unfair competition claims.
In particular, Mr. Fonstein focuses on representing companies in the financial services industry, having most recently defended a major Wall Street bank in employment litigation in federal and state courts as well as before the NASD and NYSE. He has also defended employers in large class actions, prevailed in a multi-million dollar whistle blower claim and advised a telecommunications company regarding the anti-competition provisions in its senior management’s employment contracts. He has achieved successful results for his clients, whether defending a single plaintiff discrimination claim before a state administrative agency or in a complicated, multi-plaintiff litigation involving a group of highly compensated employees.
“Cliff has successfully taken on some of the most complex and closely observed employment cases of recent years, in disparate industries,” said Thomas A. Cole, chair of the firm’s Executive Committee. “He is equally well regarded for his abilities in providing clients with effective preventative advice, an approach Sidley is committed to taking with its broad client base. We are very pleased to welcome Cliff as a partner in the firm.”
Mr. Fonstein said, “Sidley has a great national employment practice that I have long respected. I look forward in particular to working with Brian Gold, who chairs the national Employment and Labor Group, and Laura Allen, who heads a team in New York that has successfully represented and continues to work with many of the country’s major financial and investment institutions.”
A graduate of the UCLA School of Law, Mr. Fonstein completed a Judicial Externship with the Honorable Jay Rabinowitz of the Alaska Supreme Court. He received a B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley, Phi Beta Kappa, having received an AFL-CIO Scholarship. Mr. Fonstein was most recently a partner with O’Melveny & Myers.
