Lecturer Bios
Richard B. Friedman, Esq.
Richard Friedman is a former AMLAW 100 employment and business litigation partner and an experienced trial lawyer. He handles all kinds of employment-related matters such as those involving investigations of alleged employee misconduct, covenants not to compete, employee discipline and terminations, discrimination claims, fiduciary duty claims, wrongful discharge claims, defamation claims, alleged misappropriation of trade secrets, and related issues for companies of varying sizes as well as individuals in New York state and federal trial and appellate courts as well as other venues.
Richard’s most recent blog article discusses several noteworthy National Labor Relations Board decisions concerning a few of the do’s and don’ts involving employer social media practices and policies and employee posts on social media. The article can be accessed via the following link.
Richard also represents individual clients in employment-related matters and disputes. He has advised individual clients with respect to their rights and obligations arising out of restrictive covenant provisions and negotiated numerous employment and severance agreements on behalf of such clients. Richard has also counseled experienced lawyers in connection with their ethical obligations when changing law firms.
In addition, Richard aggressively represents clients in a wide range of business litigation matters, including contract and licensing agreement disputes, partnership disputes, real estate litigation, and post-judgment enforcement proceedings. Richard has a particularly active practice in the New York County Commercial Division and was appointed by the former Chief Administrative Judge to the Court’s Advisory Committee on which he continues to serve with the ten judges of that court.
Joe Hamid, Esq.
Joe Hamid, a partner at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, is a seasoned litigator with extensive courtroom experience. He handles a diverse array of complex litigation matters, with particular focus on employment-related disputes. He has successfully handled numerous discrimination, whistleblower, contract, compensation and corporate raiding litigations involving high-level executives in a broad range of industries. Mr. Hamid is recommended as an employment lawyer by Chambers USA (2012-2017), The Legal 500 (2013-2017) and SuperLawyers (2014-2017). He was also recognized as a “rising star” by Employment Law360 (2010) - one of “10 employment lawyers under 40 to watch.” He is on the American Arbitration Association panel of arbitrators for employment cases. Mr. Hamid lectures and publishes frequently on developments in employment law. He serves as the Chair of the Labor &
Employment Law Committee of the New York City Bar Association, and he is also a member of the Labor and Employment Law Sections of the American and New York State Bar Associations. He serves as Chair of the Board Directors of the Urban Justice Center, and he is also a board member of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and of Brooklyn Legal Services, Corp. A. Mr. Hamid received his J.D. in 1998 from Yale Law School.
Robert P. Haney Jr.
Robert Haney is a partner in the New York office with 30 years of experience litigating complex commercial disputes including conducting arbitrations, jury trials, bench trials, and mediations for major corporations (JPMorgan Chase, UBS, Bank of America, Verizon, USA Networks, and Linear Technology) as well as small and mid-sized financial and technology firms (Rockefeller & Co., Clinton Group, Broadstreet Group, Interworld, America First). While experienced in the full range of business and financial disputes, Mr. Haney has particular proficiency conducting arbitrations and trials involving the departure of senior executives and partners, trade secrets and securities and consumer class actions.
Christopher D. Belelieu, Esq.
Chris’s practice focuses on both complex commercial litigation and arbitration matters, including securities, antitrust, employment, class actions and contractual disputes. He has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in federal and state courts, as well as in different arbitral forums.
Chris also represents and provides strategic advice to clients in the start-up space. In addition, Chris advises companies on compliance with antitrust laws and has successfully secured antitrust regulatory approval for a number of mergers and acquisitions. Since joining the Firm, Chris has represented clients such as Goldman Sachs, Bain Capital, Perella Weinberg Partners, WeWork and Caithness Energy.
Chris devotes a significant portion of his practice to pro bono service and has been recognized for such work on several occasions. He was awarded the Legal Team Award at Her Justice’s Commitment to Justice Awards ceremony in 2012 and was part of a legal team that was recognized at The Legal Aid Society’s Pro Bono Awards ceremony in 2007 for work in obtaining a landmark settlement for The Legal Aid Society on behalf of homeless families with children in New York City.
