PRACTICE FOCUS
Howard K. Kurman is a labor and employment attorney. Howard regularly counsels clients on all aspects of proactive labor/employment issues. He represents employers ranging in size from as small as 20 employees to those employers with geographically disparate locations consisting of over 2,000 employees. Howard assures, through regular contact with his clients, that they promulgate and maintain the most effective employment policies that will, to the extent possible, minimize their legal exposure in today’s litigious workplace. Howard also offers advice on critical employment documents such as employee handbooks, employment agreements, covenants not to compete as well as confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements, stand-alone employment policies and collective bargaining agreements.
Howard is frequently retained by companies to conduct objective and well- respected workplace investigations. These investigations encompass a wide-ranging spectrum of issues including workplace harassment, employee misconduct, whistle-blower complaints and misappropriation of proprietary or confidential company data. He has been widely recognized for his thorough investigatory techniques and his comprehensive written reports which are provided to his clients at the conclusion of his investigation. Frequently following the completion of his investigations Howard is then retained to conduct remedial training of a company’s managerial staff for the purpose of avoiding similar problematic issues in the future. Uniformly his managerial training has received superlative reviews by those companies who have utilized his sophisticated workplace training modules.
Howard is also a skilled employment litigator who has successfully represented employers in a myriad of administrative, judicial, and commercial litigation before the NLRB, EEOC, federal and state courts and other administrative agencies such as the Department of Labor and OFCCP. He also counsels clients on union-related issues, and regularly serves as chief spokesperson in collective bargaining negotiations on behalf of his unionized clients.
Throughout his extensive legal career, Howard has represented a multitude of nonprofit organizations in both employment-related and governance/compliance issues. Over the years, many nonprofit organizations have sought out his expertise in navigating the often-specialized legal issues which such organizations much confront in today’s extensively regulated nonprofit environment.
Throughout his extensive and sophisticated legal practice Howard has developed a reputation for providing representation to his management clients and high-level executives that is predicated upon sound practical legal advice. Upon returning to private practice after working several years in in-house labor positions (at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, and at The Baltimore Sun), he successfully began the firm's comprehensive labor and employment practice, which currently encompasses dozens of skilled labor and employment attorneys. His prior in-house experience has enabled Mr. Kurman to relate to the middle and upper management levels of any company in a non-legalistic and practical manner. Thus, his clients often perceive him as part of their trusted advisory team, so much so that he is often consulted before an employment issue arises as opposed to after the problem has become a much more inflammatory one to resolve.
RECOGNITIONS
- Who’s Who in American Law, 10th Edition
- Highest Professional (AV) rating from his peers, as reported by Martindale-Hubbell
- Super Lawyer, Maryland Super Lawyer, 2010-2013 and 2016-2023
- Icon Honors, The Daily Record, 2022
- Distinguished Lawyer™, The Expert Network©, 2017
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
- Chesapeake Human Resources Association 18th Annual Fall HR Conference, What Employers Can and Should Do to Deal with an Overactive and Employee-Friendly National Labor Relations Board, November 2023