For more than forty years Jeff has been a tenacious trial and appellate lawyer and skilled legal strategist known for taking on precedent-setting matters and favorably resolving complicated, hard-to-win cases.
Recognized by Best Lawyers of America® as a leader in Labor and Employment Litigation, Jeff has successfully litigated matters in the state and federal courts, in labor arbitration, and in matters before the NLRB, EEOC, CHRO, and the SBMA. In a milestone case, Jeff persuaded the Connecticut Supreme Court to adopt the mixed-motive analysis and apply it to employment discrimination cases arising under Connecticut law. Levy v. Commission on Human Rights & Opportunities, 236 Conn. 96 (1996).
Jeff’s labor and employment experience has not been limited to litigation. He regularly advises and counsels employers on risk avoidance and on matters involving employee relations; wage and hour issues; collective bargaining negotiation, interpretation, and compliance; discrimination; discipline and discharge; preparation of employee manuals and sexual harassment training. He also annually writes a survey of developments in labor and employment law for the Connecticut Bar Journal.
Jeff has litigated numerous real estate disputes. Many of those have involved questions of the rights, if any, of non-waterfront owners to use the land of waterfront owners. He has also handled and tried boundary line disputes, zoning enforcement actions, zoning appeals, and environmental matters, including complex litigation involving PFAS.
In the area of trade regulation and business competition Jeff has handled cases involving alleged monopolization, price fixing, theft of trade secrets, breach of restrictive covenants, and breach of contract. He has advised companies on anti-trust and other regulatory compliance.
Jeff regularly handles matters before administrative agencies, including the Department of Public Health, the Department of Social Services, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection; the Connecticut Siting Council; and the Department of Consumer Protection.
A skilled appellate lawyer, Jeff has appeared numerous times before the Connecticut Supreme and Appellate Courts and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Jeff has handled no fewer than fourteen cases of first impression in all kinds of matters. By way of example, Jeff:
- Successfully argued that a spouse in a marital dissolution action has no duty to act to preserve marital assets taken by a third party. Ferri v. Powell-Ferri, 317 Conn. 223 (2015);
- On behalf of four privately held bus companies persuaded the Court that the Commissioner of Transportation does not have the right to condemn intangible property such as Certificates of Public Convenience and Necessity. Dattco, Inc. v. Commissioner of Transportation, 324 Conn. 39 (2016);
- In the first case argued before the Connecticut Supreme Court under Connecticut’s Affordable Housing Act established the obligation of towns to provide affordable housing. West Hartford Interfaith Coalition v. West Hartford Town Council, 229 Conn. 498 (1994).