Mr. Brown is a labor and employment attorney whose practice is concentrated on representing public and private employers in employment litigation cases and labor negotiations.  He has counseled and defended public universities, public authorities and commissions, corporations, financial institutions, health care institutions, the construction industry, hotels and retail and manufacturing establishments in all aspects of employment litigation.  Mr. Brown is also a prolific speaker and author and has been quoted in professional journals, newspapers and magazine articles both regionally and nationally.  Sources quoted in Chambers USA describe Mr. Brown as “a great educator and so knowledgeable – when he talks you always walk away the richer for it.”  Mr. Brown is listed in The Best Lawyers in America, Chambers USA America's Leading Business Lawyers, where he is ranked among the most highly rated labor and employment lawyers in Pennsylvania, and in Philadelphia Magazine’s “Pennsylvania Super Lawyers” for employment litigation, where he also ranks among the “Top 50 in Pittsburgh.”

Mr. Brown’s areas of focus include:

• Defending public and private employers in employment litigation cases before federal and state courts
• Counseling employers on minimizing discrimination liability
• Representing clients in all phases of EEOC and PHRC matters as well as counseling in all aspects of employment law. 

Bar Admissions

• Admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, 1971

Education

• J.D., Duquesne University, 1971
• B.A., University of Louisville, 1967

Noteworthy

• The Association for Continuing Legal Education, an international organization, awarded the Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s presentation entitled The Trial of a Sexual Harassment Case the Award of Outstanding Achievement in Best Program category at their Annual Conference held in Toronto, Canada in July 1998. The program was conceived and developed by Jim Brown as Course Planner.
• Received recognition from the Board of Judges of the United States District Court for his role as an Arbitrator in the USDC’s Arbitration Program.
• Member, Third Circuit Bench-Bar Relations Discussion Group for the Western District of Pennsylvania to assist in developing the program for the 2001 Judicial Conference to improve relations between the bench and bar.
• Listed in Who’s Who in American Law and Who’s Who in America
• Listed in The Best Lawyers in America
• Listed in Chambers USA’s America’s Leading Business Lawyers for labor and employment law
• Listed in Philadelphia Magazine’s "Pennsylvania Super Lawyers" for employment litigation (Top 50 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
• Elected to membership in International Association of Defense Counsel

Representative Matters

• Defended public and private employers in all aspects of employment litigation (race, age, disability, gender, sexual harassment, wrongful discharge, etc.).
• Advised and represented public, private, union and non-union employers in all aspects of the employment relationship for more than 35 years.
• Counseled clients on how to diminish the likelihood of litigation arising from re-engineering at both the staff and executive level.
• Good v. Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland: Obtained summary judgment in United States District Court for Western District of Pennsylvania in 2007 in a reverse discrimination, gender and age discrimination case.
• Black v. Werner Company: Obtained summary judgment in a reverse gender discrimination case in the United States District Court for Western District of Pennsylvania.
• Burnett v. Clearfield Hospital: Had a motion for summary judgment granted by United States District Court for Western District of Pennsylvania in an ADA "Regarded As" case.
• Pivirotto v. ISI: Obtained a defense jury verdict in sex discrimination case in the United States District Court for the Western District of PA. Successfully argued appeal filed by plaintiff and had defense verdict affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
• Wiernik v. Scott Electric: Had a motion for summary judgment granted by United States District Court for the Western District of PA in an ADA/wrongful termination case. Successfully defended District Court opinion before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
• Kralik v. Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission: Successfully defended the first ADA case of its kind in Pennsylvania where the Third Circuit Court of Appeals held that an employer does not have to violate a union contract to reasonably accommodate a disabled employee.

Memberships

• Appointed to the American Arbitration Association panel of employment dispute arbitrators as well as the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania panel of mediators
• Appointed as Arbitrator to the NASD Dispute Resolution Board of Arbitrators
• Federal Bar Association
• International Association of Defense Counsel
• American Bar Association Section of Labor and Employment Law EEO Committee

Seminars & Speeches

• Faculty member and presenter, Pennsylvania Bar Institute's Employment Law Institute West, Pittsburgh, PA (November 13, 2007)
• Faculty member and presenter, Pennsylvania Bar Institute's 13th Annual Employment Law Conference, Philadelphia, PA (April 19, 2007)
• Faculty member and co-presenter, Ethical Issues for the Advocate in Mediation, Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s Employment Law West, Pittsburgh, PA (November 17, 2004)
• Course planner and faculty member, Trial of a Sexual Harassment Case, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Philadelphia, PA and Pittsburgh, PA (October and November 2003)
• Faculty member and co-presenter, Retaliation, Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s 9th Annual Employment Law Institute, Philadelphia, PA (April 29 and 30, 2003)
• Co-presenter, Updates in Compliance and Case Law. Hints for Preparing Cases with the EEOC: Discussion of Mediation as a Part of the EEOC Process, Indiana University’s 22nd Annual Labor-Management Conference, Indiana, PA (April 25, 2003)
• Co-presenter, Effective Mediation in the Federal System from the Standpoint of Plaintiff and Defendant, Academy of Trial Lawyers of Allegheny County's 2002 Annual Federal Practice Program, Pittsburgh, PA (December 12, 2002)
• Faculty member and co-presenter, How Not To Lose Your Case in Deposition, Pennsylvania Bar Institute's 2002 Employment Law West, Pittsburgh, PA (November 12 and 13, 2002)
• Presenter, Plenary Session, National Academy of Arbitrators 2002 National Conference, Pittsburgh, PA (May 31, 2002)
• Presenter on the proposed U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development rule regarding expanding the protection for victims of sexual harassment, Public Housing Authorities Directors Association, Portland, OR (May 6-8, 2001)
• Presenter, Employer Obligations: Leased vs. Contract Employees, Westmoreland County Human Resource Association, Greensburg, PA (May 3, 2001)
• Faculty member and presenter, The Boundaries of Age Discrimination - Determining Whether There is a Legitimate Age Claim, Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s 7th Annual Northeast Regional Employment Law Institute, Philadelphia, PA (April 24-25, 2001)
• Faculty member and co-presenter, How Not To Lose Your Case in Deposition, Pennsylvania Bar Institute's 8th Annual Employment Law Institute, Philadelphia, PA (April 15, 2002)
• Participant, Allegheny County Bar Association Law School Student Diversity Initiative Program, Pittsburgh, PA (March 21, 2002)
• Faculty member and co-presenter, Advocacy in Mediation, Pennsylvania Bar Institute's Employment Law West, Pittsburgh, PA (December 4-5, 2000)
• Guest speaker, Accommodating Disabled Employees in the Aftermath of Key Supreme Court Decisions, Industry for Workers' Compensation Reform Annual Conference, Greensburg, PA (October 19, 2000)
• Guest speaker, Handling the Impaired Physician, University of Pittsburgh Physicians and School of Medicine Division Director Retreat, Pittsburgh, PA (October 2000)
• Faculty member and co-presenter, Advocacy in Mediation, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Atlantic City, NJ (August 17, 2000)
• Faculty member of the Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s 6th Annual Employment Law program, Philadelphia, PA. Mr. Brown also co-presented the program entitled Advocacy in Mediation: What is the Role of the Lawyer? (April 17-18, 2000)

Publications

• Co-author, Can You See Me Now?, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (February 24, 2004)
• Quoted, Camera Phones Raise Whole New Set of Privacy Issues, Education Week (February 18, 2004)
• Quoted, Job Reviews Take on Added Significance in Down Times, USA Today (July 22, 2003)
• Co-author, Issues in Enforceability of Mediated Settlements, ADR in Employment Law, Bureau of National Affairs, projected release date April 2004
• Co-author, The U.S. Supreme Court Offers Some Advice: Juries Will Punish Employers For Exercising Poor Judgment, Assisted Living Success (April 2001)