For more than 20 years, Jessica Kastin has advised employers on complex labor and employment matters. She focuses on issues arising under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and regularly handles collective bargaining negotiations, union elections and representation proceedings, unfair labor practice charges, grievance arbitrations, and strike preparation. Jessica also has a robust transactional practice and has advised on labor and employment matters in more than 100 completed transactions that include mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and spin-offs.
Jessica is ranked Band 1 by Chambers USA for Labor Relations and L&E Transactions. Clients describe her as "a trusted adviser for the most complex and important matters" and report that she is "an excellent negotiator, a strategic thinker and very responsive" and that she "is simply an outstanding labor and employment lawyer."
She works closely with clients in various industries on identifying and achieving critical business objectives through collective bargaining negotiations. Notably, in 2016, Jessica represented Verizon in connection with a seven-week strike involving approximately 36,000 employees. In addition to providing strategic collective bargaining advice, she obtained a rare injunction under Section 10(l) of the NLRA enjoining the union's unlawful secondary activity targeted at hotels in New York housing workers during the strike. And, in 2021, Jessica represented the Hunts Point Terminal Market in connection with a one-week strike involving approximately 1,400 employees.
Representative clients for whom Jessica has advised on corporate transactions, include: ABM, Alcoa, EagleTree Capital, Eastman Chemical, General Electric, J.F. Lehman, Morgan Stanley, and Verizon.
Experience
Additional Speaking Engagements
- January 27, 2017
What Can Practitioners Expect From A Trump Board? New York State Bar Association Labor & Employment Section 2017 Annual Meeting - September 2014
2014 Labor & Employment Seminar - New York - December 13, 2012
What to Expect From the NLRB During President Obama's Second Term: Impact on Both Union and Non-Union Workplaces - April 12, 2011
Jones Day Railway Labor Act Symposium
"Jessica's expertise is second to none and her strategic support is unparalleled."Chambers USA
- The George Washington University (J.D. with honors 2001; Laurence E. Seibel Memorial Award for Excellence in Labor and Employment Law); Cornell University, School of Industrial and Labor Relations (B.S. 1998)
- New York
Chambers USA — Labor Relations (New York, Band 1), New York L&E Transactions (Band 1), and Labor & Employment (New York)
Best Lawyers in America (2019-2025)
NY Metro Super Lawyers (2014-2017, 2024)
Legal 500 — Labor-Management Relations
- Law Clerk to Wilma B. Liebman, National Labor Relations Board (Summer 1999)