As chairman of Harris Beach, Jim leads the management committee in developing the strategic direction of the firm. He served as CEO of Harris Beach from 2005 to 2017. During his tenure he has overseen the expansion of the firm into a leading regional law firm with nationally-recognized practices and consulting subsidiaries, achieving fifty percent revenue growth during that time and thirty percent growth in the number of attorneys and consultants.
Jim counsels public and private clients in all areas of employee relations, including employment discrimination, employee discipline/termination, wage and hour issues, compliance with federal and state labor laws and other laws affecting the employer-employee relationship, counseling on employment policies and procedures, contract administration, collective bargaining, arbitration, and improper practice/unfair labor practice proceedings.
A substantial portion of Jim’s practice involves representation of school districts on the above labor and employment issues as well as on general education, civil service and general municipal law matters. He advises school districts on Open Meetings Law and Freedom of Information Law issues. He counsels school districts on all union and employment matters and appears before the Public Employment Relations Board, Commissioner of Education and state and federal courts.