Joseph Baumgarten

Joseph Baumgarten is a partner and former co-chair in Proskauer’s Labor & Employment Law Department. Joe has been widely recognized as a leading labor and employment lawyer by Chambers, US Legal 500, HR Executive Law Dragon and Best Lawyers. He was also named one of the 2013 BTI Client Service All-Stars, an elite group of attorneys nominated solely by clients as the very best in client service.

Joe represents publicly held and privately owned employers in virtually all areas of labor and employment law, including claims under the National Labor Relations Act, Title VII, the ADEA, ADA, FLSA, WARN and Sarbanes-Oxley, as well as breach of contract claims arising out of executive compensation disputes. He regularly:

  • defends employers in single and multiple plaintiff cases, and class actions, in federal and state trial and appellate courts, before federal, state and local administrative agencies, and in FINRA, AAA and JAMS arbitrations of employment claims; 
  • represents unionized employers in collective bargaining negotiations, in grievance arbitrations and before the National Labor Relations Board; and
  • counsels employers with respect to internal investigations, restrictive covenants, reductions in force, restructurings, and labor and employment related issues related to corporate transactions.


Joe practices across a range of different industries and has extensive experience representing employers in the banking, insurance, broker-dealer, television, professional sports, newspaper, health care, trucking and retail sectors.