| 78th Annual NYU Conference on Labor & Employment Law: Policy & Practice NYU School of Law, Vanderbilt Hall, Greenberg Lounge 40 Washington Square Park South
Day 1 - Thursday, October 15, 2026
8:50am Breakfast & Registration 9:15am Welcoming Remarks Faculty Director Samuel Estreicher (NYU Law) 9:20am Morning Keynote Address: Hon. Jonathan Berry (US Solicitor of Labor)
Introduction: Kate Mueting (Sanford Heisler)
10:00am US Labor Market Today A labor economics perspective of current and evolving US workforce issues from agentic AI workers to national original discrimination and antitrust. The discussion will contribute to thinking ahead for policymakers, and will inform current practice for labor and employment lawyers and HR leaders.
Speaker: Prof. Richard B. Freeman (Harvard University; National Bureau of Economic Research) and Ye Zhang (Resolution Economics) Moderator: Mark Brossman (Schulte Roth & Zabel) 10:50am 10 min break 11:00am Labor Law Developments into the Second Year of the Trump Administration A. Faster Labor Contracts Act B. Federal Civil Service System and Federal Sector Labor Changes C. What Looms Ahead with Newly Constituted NLRB? D. Labor Rights for “Gig” Workers A review of labor reform proposals and changes into the second Trump presidency, including the proposed Faster Labor Contracts Act (H.R. 5408), which has passed the House. The law mandates interest arbitration if a first contract is not reached within 120 days after the union has obtained bargaining rights. Other topics include the administration’s attempted revamping of federal civil service and federal sector labor contracts, including what lies ahead with the newly constituted NLRB, and Calif. and Mass. Laws establishing collective bargaining rights for “gig” transportation workers.
Speakers: Roger King (Chief Human Resources Officers Association-CHRO), Daniel Kishi (American Compass), Alan Klinger (Steptoe), and Shannon Meade (Littler)
12:20pm Lunch
Afternoon Session Moderator: Raymond Nardo (Raymond Nardo PC)
1:40pm Developments in Employment Law The states are in the move in the employment law space. A survey of new state law developments on the definition of employee vs. independent contractor, extending employment laws to (some) independent contractors, narrowing or eliminating non-compete clauses, “Wage Theft” criminal provisions, and sexual harassment ten years since MeToo.
Speakers: Maria Caceres-Boneau (K&L Gates), Kevin Mintzer (Law Offices of Kevin Mintzer), Prof. Rachel Arnow Richman (University Florida Levin College of Law Moderator: Victoria Lipnic (Resolution Economics, former EEOC Acting Chair, former US Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment Standards)
2:30pm Short Break 2:35pm AI Tools in Employment A discussion on how company use of AI tools for employment and HR functions has evolved in recent years, determining responsible use of AI, how companies can assess vendors and educate users, types of challenges arising and anticipated.
Speakers: Shlomo Klapper (Learnedhand.ai), Adam Klein (Outten & Golden) and Bonnie Pierson-Murphy (VP, Assistant General Counsel, IBM) Moderator: Prof. Shlomit Yanisky-Ravid, PhD (Yale Law, Information Project Society Fellow and Ono Law. Head of LLM in Commerical Law and Technology)
3:20pm The Future of Affirmative Recruiting, DEI, Disparate Impact Challenges, and post-Muldrow Developments The evolving landscape since the Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard College and the policies of the second Trump Administration on DEI programs, reducing the role of the OFCCP, eliminating government disparate impact suits, and proposing to cut EEO-1 reports. This segment will focus on what is open as a matter of federal law and under state laws.
Speakers: Dave Cohen (CEO, DCI Consulting), Michael Delikat (Orrick) and Jocelyn Samuels (former EEOC Commissioner), and employee-representative attorney TBA Moderator: Tracy High (Sullivan & Cromwell) 4:15pm Day 1 Concludes Please join us for a networking reception to 6:00pm held in cooperation with Resolution Economics.
Day 2 – Friday, October 16, 2026 Labor & Employment Law & Practice 8:30am Breakfast & Registration 8:50am Welcome and Introduction 9:00am Keynote Address: Hon. Crystal Carey, General Counsel, National Labor Relations Board Introduction: David Birnbaum (Jones Day) 9:55am Keynote Address: Hon. Brittany Panuccio, Commissioner, US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Introduction: Nicole Grunfeld (KatzMelinger) 10:45 Short Break
Morning Session Moderator: Michele Coyne (Kauff McGuire & Margolis) 11:00am Reconstituting the Labor Board After Trump v. Slaughter The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Trump v. Slaughter raises serious questions whether agencies like the NLRB can continue as constituted with its members protected from arbitrary dismissal from the President. It also creates an opportunity to consider whether the NLRB can (and should be) transformed into a purely adjudicative agency without rulemaking power, the authority to go to court to enforce its orders, and staggered terms that can prevent the President from selecting a majority from his own party during his term.
Speaker: Prof. Samuel Estreicher (NYU Law) Commentators: Matthew Ginsburg (General Counsel, AFL-CIO) and Alex MacDonald (Littler) 12:00pm Lunch
Afternoon Session Moderator: Davida Perry (Shwartz, Perry & Heller) 1:10pm Employment Practice: Workplace Complaints and Internal Investigations A practical discussion on pre complaint to post investigation issues: early warning signs employers miss, intersection of day to day with legal risk and manager judgement, ethical issues and potential conflicts that arise in an organization deciding who to investigate, to take disciplinary actions (or not), how to communicate outcomes post investigation, how to prevent retaliation, rebuild trust, and address underlying cultural or leadership issues
Speakers: Jonathan Ben-Asher (Ritz-Clark & Ben-Asher), Gayle Wasserman (Wasserman Law), Teri Wood (Wilford Wood Law), Pearl Zuchlewski (Kraus & Zuchlewski) 2:00pm Short Break 2:05pm Religious Discrimination/Harassment & Accommodation The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Groff v. DeJoy makes clear that Title VII’s “undue hardship” limit on accommodation of religious observance/beliefs requires a showing of significant expense and operational difficulties, with consideration of issues under Title VI and Title IX of the Civil Rights Act regarding how colleges and universities have deal with widespread anti-Israel protests as may relate to the employment context.
Speakers: Prof. David Flatto (Hebrew University), Prof. Debbie Kaminer (Baruch College, Zicklin School of Business) and Prof. David Sherwyn (Prof. of Law at Cornell University Nolan School of Hotel Administration/SC College of Business) 2:55pm Short Break
3:00-3:50pm Ethics, Discrimination, and Security Issues in the Use of AI; AI as Judge (applying for partial Professional Ethics CLE) An exploration of AI’s hidden workers and AI governance issues particularly in employment practice including: advising employers on ethics of AI in hiring and compensation and use of digital twin workers. Security issues including privacy and deep fakes; and, use of AI as judge or arbitrator.
Speakers: Prof. Miriam Cherry (St. John's University School of Law), Jennifer Reeves (VP, Legal AI Governance and Integration Lead, American Arbitration Association) Moderator: Robert Whitman (Seyfarth Shaw)
4:00pm Concluding Remarks |
