July 17, 2000 (New York, NY) - On the heels of the recent expansion of its labor and employment practice in Paris and Newark, Proskauer Rose LLP, widely known for its preeminent labor and employment law department, announced today the lateral addition of two partners to the firm's Washington, D.C., and Newark, N.J., offices.

Lawrence Z. Lorber and Lawrence R. Sandak, from the labor practice group of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, have joined one of Proskauer's largest practices.

"These two attorneys will continue the expansion of our national labor practice," said Alan S. Jaffe, chairman of Proskauer. "Earlier this year, we added a labor group to our Paris office, and now, these two recent additions will allow us to build on our labor law resources in Washington and Newark."

Lorber, who is based in the Washington office, is a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor and a former director of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. While holding these positions, he issued the first regulations under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and enforced Executive Order 11246, requiring affirmative action for federal contractors.

In addition to these federal government positions, Lorber has served as executive assistant to the Solicitor of Labor, with special responsibilities in the areas of labor legislation, labor protective law, equal employment, and occupational safety and health. He also has been called upon by employer groups to testify before Congress on a wide variety of proposed employment legislation. Lorber represented two of these groups, the Society of Human Resource Management and the National Association of Manufacturers, in legislative activity that led to the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

"Lorber's experience in dealing with important government agencies gives us the ability to help clients who have matters that they are trying to address with the Department of Labor, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the National Labor Relations Board and other federal agencies," Jaffe said.

As for Sandak, he gives Proskauer additional capability to better serve corporate clients in New Jersey, which look to the firm for labor and employment services.

"Our New Jersey labor and employment practice, which has grown from three lawyers at the end of 1998 to 22 today, is handling a very significant amount of employment litigation, and Sandak will represent our clients in the federal and state courts of New Jersey, New York and elsewhere" Jaffe says.

With more than 22 years of litigation experience, Sandak, who was a partner at Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal's New York office, broadens and deepens the expertise of the New Jersey office, and he gives us additional breadth and depth in litigating employment cases, Jaffe adds.

A former managing partner at Sive, Paget & Riesel, P.C., Sandak has lectured on age discrimination, sexual harassment and privacy of medical records and has written extensively on employment matters.

Proskauer's labor and employment law department consists of approximately 140 attorneys, representing employers in connection with the issues and problems of dealing with employees, including employment discrimination, workplace harassment, employee litigation, union-management issues, employee benefits, executive compensation, immigration, and occupational health and safety issues. Clients include every form and size of organization, ranging from global corporations to local public schools. Founded in 1875 in New York City and celebrating its 125th anniversary, Proskauer Rose LLP is one of the nation's largest law firms, providing a wide variety of legal services to clients throughout the United States and around the world. The firm has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Boca Raton, Newark and Paris.