Sharon N. Berlin
Partner
PHONE:
EMAIL:
EDUCATION:
♦ Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations (B.S., with honors, 1988)
♦ George Washington University National Law Center (J.D., with honors, 1991)
BAR ADMISSIONS:
- New York
- Connecticut
- U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York
- U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals
- U.S. Supreme Court.
HONORS & AWARDS
- 2022 – Best Lawyers’ 2023 in Labor Law – Management
- 2020 – Best Lawyers’ 2019 Labor Law – Management “Lawyer of the Year” for Long Island
- 2016-2022 – Best Lawyers in America®
- 2016 & 2019, 2021 – Best Lawyers® Spring Special Business Edition “Women in Law”
- 2014 – One of 2014 Top Women Attorneys in the New York Metro Area (a special section devoted to female attorneys from the 2013 New York Metro Super Lawyers and Rising Stars lists)
- 2012-2022 – Super Lawyer
- 2011 – Nassau County Bar Association’s Directors’ Award
- 2011 – Named “One of Top 10 Labor and Employment Lawyers” by The Ten Leaders Cooperative
- 2009 – “Public Private Partnership Award” by ASIS International, Long Island Chapter
- 2009, 2015 – Listed as one of Long Island Business News’ Who’s Who in Intellectual Property and Labor Law
- 2009, 2015 – Listed as one of Long Island Business News’ Who’s Who in Women and Professional Services
- 2009 – ASIS Public Private Partnership Award
- 2007 – Honoree, “Business Woman of the Year,” Suffolk County Coalition Against Domestic Violence
- 2005 – Newsday’s One of Long Island’s “Top Ten Leaders in Employment Law”
- 2002 – Long Island Business News’ 40 Under 40 Award
- Business Leader of the Year
ORGANIZATIONS & COMMITTEES
- 2019 – Chair, New York State Bar Association’s Local and State Government Law Section
- 2015-2106 – Secretary, Executive Committee of the New York State Bar Association’s Municipal Law Section
- 2013 – Legislative Affairs Chair, National Association of Women Business Owners – Long Island Chapter (NAWBO)
- 2009-2010 – Member, Executive Committee of the New York State Bar Association’s Municipal Law Section
- Member, New York State Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law Section
- Past Chair of the Nassau County Bar Association’s Education Law and Labor and Employment Law Committees
- Past Chair, Suffolk County Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law Committee
- Member, Board of Directors for the Long Island Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners
- Member, Board of Directors of the Advisory Board to the Nassau Academy of Law Co-chair of the Honorary Board for the Suffolk County Coalition Against Domestic Violence
PRESENTATIONS
- 06.04.2023: Deal or No Deal – Navigating the Impasse Resolution Process -22nd Annual School Attorney Law Conference sponsored by the NYS Association of School Attorneys
- 01.24.2023: Representing Government Clients: What Lawyers Need to Do When Being Engaged by Municipal Clients”- New York State Bar Association, Local and State Government Law Section Annual Meeting
- 11.30.2022: Human Resources Issue – National Business Institute Live Online Seminar “Ensuring Local Government Comply with the Law – New York Guide”
- 10.27.2022: Collective Bargaining – What’s New? What Remains the Same?”- NYSSBA & NYSASA 26th Annual Pre-Convention School Law Seminar
- 10.14.2022: Investigating Discrimination Claims – Local and State Government Law Section 75th Anniversary Fall Meeting
- 07.02.2021: APPR and Tenure Decisions in the Aftermath of COVID-19 – 2021 New York State School Boards Association Summer Law Conference
- 05.14.2021: Returning to In-Person Work in the COVID-19 Era – Long Island Chapter Labor and Employment Relations Association’s (LERA) Annual Spring Conference
- 04.29.2020: The Evolution of Executive Orders & the State Budget: Impact & Response During the COVID Crisis on Local Government – New York State Bar Association live Webinar for the Local and State Government Law Section
- 04.15.2020: Managing Your Essential and Non-Essential Municipal Workforce During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Everything an Employer Needs, and Wants, to Know About Managing its Workforce in the Face of the COVID-19 Pandemic – Lamb & Barnosky, LLP Webinar
- 04.06.2020: Managing Your Essential and Non-Essential Municipal Workforce During the COVID-19 Pandemic – New York State Bar Association Webinar for the Local and State Government Law Section and CLE Department
- 03.27.2020: Free Speech in the Public Sector: What Employees Can and Cannot Say” – New York State Bar Association, virtual CLE “Bridging the Gap”
- 01.30.2020: What’s New in 2020? What You Need to Know About Public Sector Labor and Employment Law – New York State Bar Association, Local and State Government Law Section Annual Meeting
- 12.06.2019: The “Ayes” Have It: Legislative Update #1 / An Overview of New Laws with a Focus on Employment Issues – Nassau and Suffolk Academies of Law and Education Law Committees’ 2019 Annual School Law Conference
- 11.13.2019: FMLA, ADA and Workers’ Compensation: Managing Leave of Absence Issues -National Business Institute Seminar “Employment Law: 2019 Comprehensive Guide”
- 11.01.2019: Title IX Claims Including the Rights of Trans Students – New York State Association of School Attorney’s (NYSASA) CLE Program for the New York City Department of Education’s Office of Counsel
- 05.15.2019: Employment Law Update – National Business Institute Seminar “Mini Law School for HR Professionals”
- 10.26.2018: Sexual Harassment in a Viral News World – NYSSBA & NYSASA 99th Annual Convention & Trade Show
- 9.26.2018: Hiring, Terminating, FMLA and More: Hiring and Onboarding Legal Skills You Must Know and How to Accommodate Disabled Employees While Avoiding Legal Quagmires – National Business Institute: The Human Resource Manager: Essential Skills for Everyday Issues Seminar
- 07.13.2018: Human Resource Issues – National Business Institute Seminar “Local Government Law: What Attorneys Need to Know”
- 05.17.2018: Crowdfunding and Other Fundraising Considerations, Nassau Association of School Business Officials Section Leaders Conference
- 04.13.2018: “Who Done It?” Best Practices When Conducting Employee Investigations, Lamb & Barnosky, LLP Live Webinar Series
- 03.16.2018: Crowdfunding and Other Fundraising Considerations, Suffolk Association of School Business Officials Meeting
- 02.13.2018: “You Can’t Touch This…” Ensuring That Your Anti-Harassment Policies and Training Are Up To Date, Lamb & Barnosky, LLP Live Webinar Series
- 12.08.2017: I Heard it through the Grapevine – Board Members’ Free Speech Rights and Conflicts of Interest – Nassau and Suffolk Academies of Law
- 11.29.2017: We Can Work it Out – Accommodating School Employees with Disabilities – Nassau County Bar Association Education Law Committee Meeting
- 11.01.2017: Conducting an Effective Internal Investigation – National Business Institute Advanced Employment Law Seminar
- 10.27.2017: An Overview of the Labor and Employment Laws Covering Public Sector Workplaces – New York State Local and State Government Law Section Fall Meeting
- 07.27.2017: Sections 3020-a and 3020-b – A Timely Update – New York State Bar Association’s 2017 Summer Law Conference: Keeping Pace and Staying the Course
- 12.09.2016: Employee Issues (Investigations, Pre and Post Employment Checks, 913, Weingarten Rights) – 2016 Annual School Law Conference
- 10.27.2016: Co-presenter: Civil Service Law and Appointments – NYS Association of Business Officials (NYSASBO) School Business Management Workshop entitled “District Clerk”
- 07.21.2016: Co-presenter: Transgender Individuals in the Schools – Lingering Issues – 2016 Summer Law Conference sponsored by the New York School Boards Association
- 01.28.2016: Somebody’s Watching Me – Electronic Surveillance in the Workplace and Related Best Practices, NYS Bar Association – Local and State Government Law Section Annual Meeting
- 12.14.2015: Probationary Teachers and Administrators: Jarema Credit; Juul Agreements; Appointments; Early Grants of Tenure – 2015 Annual School Law Conference
- 09.25.2015: Socially Acceptable Behavior: Social Media in a Workplace & the Courtroom – NYSBA Municipal Law Section
- 05.05.2015: Special Issues in Public Sector Investigations, Association of Workplace Investigators Training Institute
- 10.17.2014: Labor Law Update – NYSBA Municipal Law Section Fall Meeting
- 01.24.2013: Getting Your Employees Back To Work: Municipal Employee Alphabet Soup Issues In a Nutshell (FMLA, ADAAA, GINA, HIPAA, GML & §207-a and c, CSL §§71-73) – NYSBA Municipal Law Section Annual Meeting
- 12.03.2012: Public Employment Relations Board Update- 2012 Annual School Law Conference
- 12.13.2012: Intended and Unintended Consequences of the Tax Cap: Collective Bargaining and Related Issues a Year Later – NYSBA Municipal Law Section Fall Meeting
- 03.03.2012: Human Resources 101 for Farms and Agri-Businesses – New York Agri-Women’s Second Annual Meeting
- 10.29.2011: The ABCs of Public-Nonpublic School Relations – NYSSBA & NYSASA 92nd Annual Convention & Trade Show
- 10.23.2011: Harassment and Retaliation Claims Against Municipal Employees – NYSBA Environmental Law Section and Municipal Section Fall Meeting
- 09.21.2011: Employment Issues – Marriage, Divorce, Estate Planning and Employment Issues for Same-Sex Couples – Nassau Academy of Law
- 02.04.2011: Social Media Issues in the Workplace – Suffolk County Bar Association’s 21st Annual Law in the Workplace Conference
- 11.16.2010: Social Networking Issues in Litigation – Suffolk County Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law Committee
- 10.22.2010: Legal Challenges to School Elections and Budget Votes – NYSSBA & NYSASA 91st Annual Convention & Trade Show
- 12.07.2009: Education in Hard Economic Times: Labor relations, negotiation trends, COBRA/ARRA, staffing issues and alternative funding sources – Nassau and Suffolk Academies of Law and Education Law Committees
- 11.06.2009: Law in the Workplace – Technology in the Workplace and in the Courtroom (blogs, background checks, privacy rights, electronically stored information, litigation hold obligations), Suffolk County Bar Association Labor and Employment Law Committee
- 10.16.2009: Court Involvement in the Arbitration Process – New York State Bar Association Labor and Employment Section Meeting
- 10.16.2009: Student and Staff Discipline in the Digital Age – NYSSBA & NYSASA 90th Annual Convention & Trade Show
- 05.13.2009: What steps should every employer take to avoid employment-related lawsuits? What are the required employment policies? Is an employment agreement necessary?- National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO)
PRACTICE AREAS:
Education, Employment, Labor, Litigation and Municipal
Sharon N. Berlin represents management in private and public sector labor and employment law matters, including investigations, disciplinary proceedings, arbitrations, collective bargaining, and federal and state court litigation. She also conducts management and employee training sessions for our employer clients on topics such as the prevention of sexual and other types of harassment and discrimination, employee performance issues, discipline and discharge, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and accommodating employees with disabilities. Ms. Berlin also serves as general counsel to school districts, private schools, and other educational entities.
Ms. Berlin is Chair to the New York State Bar Association’s Local and State Government Law Section and previously chaired that Section’s Employment Relations Committee. She is also a member of the New York State Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law Section. Ms. Berlin is a past chair of the Nassau County Bar Association’s Education Law and Labor and Employment Law Committees and of the Suffolk County Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law Committee. She has served on the Board of Directors for the Long Island Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners, co-chaired the Honorary Board for the Suffolk County Coalition Against Domestic Violence and currently serves on the Nassau Academy of Law.
Ms. Berlin has been named a Best Lawyer in America© for Labor Law – Management, Best Lawyers Women in the Law – Labor & Employment Law, a Super Lawyer in the New York-Metro Area in Labor and Employment Law, a Super Lawyer Top Woman Attorney in the New York-Metro Area and one of the 10 leaders in Employment Law on Long Island. She has been listed in Long Island Business News’ Who’s Who in Employment Law, Who’s Who in Labor Law, and Who’s Who in Women in Professional Services. Ms. Berlin has received numerous accolades including 2016 Outstanding Women in the Law, Business Leader of the Year, the ASIS Public Private Partnership Award, the Nassau County Bar Association’s Directors’ Award and the Long Island Business News’ 40 Under 40 Award.
Ms. Berlin was a co-editor-in-chief of the Third Edition of the Public Sector Labor and Employment Law treatise. She has written articles for the New York Law Journal, the New York State Bar Association’s Municipal Lawyer, the New York State Bar Journal, and the New York State Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law Section Newsletter. Ms. Berlin was a chapter editor for the American Bar Association treatise “Discipline & Discharge in Arbitration.” She has lectured at programs sponsored by the New York State Bar Association, the Nassau/Suffolk Academies of Law, the National Association of Women Business Owners, the Society for Human Resource Management and others.
Ms. Berlin is an honors graduate of Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations and the George Washington University National Law Center.
PUBLICATIONS
