Mr. Cottington is an experienced labor and employment lawyer, representing public and private employers in collective bargaining, labor arbitrations, unfair labor practice proceedings, and federal and state court litigation involving a wide variety of employment law claims.  Prior to joining Cohen & Grigsby, Mr. Cottington was a partner at the law firm of Reed Smith LLP in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Areas of Focus:

•  Defending clients in state and federal courts and before governmental agencies
• Collective bargaining, labor arbitrations, mediation, unfair labor practice proceedings
• Counseling and representing clients with respect to an array of employment-related claims, including employment discrimination, harassment, family and medical leave rights, occupational safety and health citations, wrongful termination, defamation, non-competes and breach of contract
• Counseling management clients and defending them in litigation with respect to wage and hour claims
• Representing employers before the U.S. Department of Labor and state agencies charged with enforcing wage and hour laws
• Counseling employers on hiring, discipline and discharge decisions; drafting employment policies, agreements, non-competes and restrictive covenants; and providing supervisory and employee training on a variety of employment matters

Bar Admissions

• U.S. District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania
• Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
• U.S. Court of Appeals for Third, Fourth and Seventh Circuits

Education

• J.D. (magna cum laude, Order of the Coif), Case Western Reserve University, 1987
• B.S., Mathematics (cum laude), Bucknell University, 1982

Noteworthy

• Listed in The Best Lawyers in America (2002 - present)
• Named a “Pennsylvania Super Lawyer” by Philadelphia Magazine (2004 - present)
• Graduate, Leadership Pittsburgh XVII

Representative Matters

• Obtained summary judgment in national class action lawsuit under the Fair Labor Standards Act involving putative class of over 7,000 employees
• Obtained victory for manufacturing client in a labor arbitration involving multi-million dollar pension claims
• Defeated injunction suit brought by a labor union seeking to prevent a manufacturing client from closing a plant and consolidating operations in another state; also prevailed in subsequent labor arbitration involving claim that the employer's consolidation violated its collective bargaining agreement
• Negotiated favorable settlement in multi-state wage and hour class action involving more than 6,000 class members
• Obtained successful closing of a U.S. Department of Labor wage and hour audit on behalf of a securities firm, involving claims that brokers were misclassified as exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act's overtime pay requirements
• Obtained dismissal of class action EEOC charge involving challenge to communications company's disability accommodation policy

Memberships

• Vice Chairman, Metropolitan Board of Directors, YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh
• Member, Pastoral Council, St. Kilian R.C. Church, Mars, Pennsylvania
• Past Member Board of Directors, Combined Health Appeal of Western Pennsylvania
• Past Chairman, Labor and Employment Law Section, Allegheny County Bar Association