WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 15, 2018) – Littler, the world’s largest employment and labor law practice representing management, is pleased to announce that Washington, D.C.-based shareholder Maury Baskin will serve as co-chair of the firm’s Workplace Policy Institute® (WPI™). Baskin, who will lead WPI along with shareholder and co-chair Michael Lotito, has a career that spans almost four decades and includes numerous successful challenges of federal labor regulations.
“In recent years, Maury has been a central figure in challenging changes to national labor policy that impose unfair burdens on businesses,” said Tom Bender and Jeremy Roth, co-managing directors of Littler, in a joint statement. “Maury’s dedication to fighting against excessive regulation on behalf of large and small businesses, as well as his long history in D.C. and instrumental role in elevating WPI’s prominence in recent years, make him an ideal choice to co-chair WPI.”
As a member of WPI, Baskin achieved a string of recent litigation victories including successful challenges to the Department of Labor’s rule increasing the salary threshold for exemption of white collar employees from overtime and the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council’s so-called “blacklisting” rule that would have imposed onerous compliance challenges for federal contractors. He also spearheaded challenges against the so-called “persuader” rule and is in the process of litigating against the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s workplace injury and illness reporting rule. These accomplishments led to his recognition as one of Law360’s Employment MVPs for 2017 and contributed to Littler being named one of Law360's 2017 Labor and Employment Groups of the Year.
“I look forward to working alongside Michael to further advance the efforts of WPI,” Baskin said. “Whether it’s advocating for companies embroiled in government investigations and litigation or influencing legislative initiatives, WPI is an increasingly important resource for employers who are dealing with a constantly evolving regulatory framework.”
Baskin also serves as co-chair of Littler’s Construction Industry Practice Group and has long represented the Associated Builders and Contractors, a national trade organization, and many of its construction industry members. He is also a fellow in the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers and has been named one of The Best Lawyers in America© for the past four years.
Littler’s WPI was created to be an effective resource for the employer community to engage in crisis management and to influence labor policy throughout the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government. WPI harnesses the deep subject-matter knowledge of Littler to help influence and shape legislation and regulations, as well as to ensure that policymakers hear the voice of employers on the most critical employment, labor and benefits issues. In addition to Baskin’s work, WPI has influenced recent legislative initiatives dealing with joint employment, union elections and health insurance.
About Littler
Littler is the largest global employment and labor law practice, with more than 1,300 attorneys in over 75 offices worldwide. Littler represents management in all aspects of employment and labor law and serves as a single-source solution provider to the global employer community. Consistently recognized in the industry as a leading and innovative law practice, Littler has been litigating, mediating and negotiating some of the most influential employment law cases and labor contracts on record for over 75 years. Littler Global is the collective trade name for an international legal practice, the practicing member entities of which are separate and distinct professional firms.
