Proskauer Rose LLP

Mark Batten

Mark W. Batten is a partner in Proskauer's Labor & Employment Law Department and co-head of the Class & Collective Actions Group. Mark represents employers nationwide at all stages of complex employment litigation, including class and collective actions on wage and hour matters and discrimination claims, and Commissioner’s Charges and other charges of nationwide import brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Outside of class and collective litigation, Mark assists clients with all aspects of employment policies and practices, including hiring, termination, leaves, accommodation of disabilities, and other matters. Mark also handles diverse civil litigation, including litigation of noncompetition agreements, discrimination and wrongful termination litigation in federal and state courts; proceedings before the EEOC and Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination; executive disputes; and wage and hour matters. He is also an experienced appellate attorney both in employment cases and other civil litigation, handling appeals at all levels in the state courts and in the United States Courts of Appeals. Mark also has substantial experience with traditional labor matters. He regularly represents employers in a variety of industries, including a number of newspaper and media companies, in collective bargaining, practice before the NLRB, labor arbitrations, union organizing campaigns, and day-to-day advice on administration of collective bargaining agreements. He regularly advises clients in both union and non-union settings on diligence matters in corporate acquisitions and financings. He also has experience on behalf of securities firms in arbitrations before the NASD and NYSE of customer and employee complaints. Before joining Proskauer, Mark was a trial attorney in the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, where he was lead counsel in major litigation for over two dozen federal agencies, ranging from the U.S. Air Force, the CIA, and the U.S. Secret Service to the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the National Endowment for the Arts. Mark regularly writes and lectures on employment-related matters, including, for instance, MCLE's Representing Clients Before the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. In his spare time, Mark is an experienced computer programmer, conversant in C, C++, and other languages. He has ported more than 35 commercial computer games between computer operating systems.

Elise Bloom

Elise M. Bloom is widely hailed as one of the nation’s top employment lawyers and one of the most creative and effective discrimination wage and hour, class/collective action trial lawyers. She is particularly well-known for handling high profile, bet-the-company matters on behalf of significant national employers. Elise is the former co-chair of Proskauer’s Labor & Employment Department, co-head of the Class & Collective Actions Group and previously served as a member of Proskauer’s elected Executive Committee for two terms. With 30+ years in practice, Elise possesses extensive pre-trial and jury trial experience as well as conducting high-profile investigations. She has represented more companies in class actions challenging interns, trainees and volunteers than most others; this includes her precedent-setting win for Fox Searchlight Pictures in the “Black Swan” case. She also addresses a wider range of general employment issues through counseling and employer training programs. A noted author and speaker on employment-related topics, Elise spearheads Proskauer’s annual Value Insights: Delivering Value in Labor and Employment Law survey.

Anthony Oncidi

Anthony J. Oncidi is the co-chair of Proskauer's Labor & Employment Law Department and heads the West Coast Labor & Employment group in the firm’s Los Angeles office. Tony represents employers and management in all aspects of labor relations and employment law, including litigation and preventive counseling, wage and hour matters, including class actions, wrongful termination, employee discipline, Title VII and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, executive employment contract disputes, sexual harassment training and investigations, workplace violence, drug testing and privacy issues, Sarbanes-Oxley claims and employee raiding and trade secret protection. A substantial portion of Tony’s practice involves the defense of employers in large class actions, employment discrimination, harassment and wrongful termination litigation in state and federal court as well as arbitration proceedings, including FINRA matters. Tony is the author of the treatise titled Employment Discrimination Depositions (Juris Pub’g 2020; www.jurispub.com), co-author of Proskauer on Privacy (PLI 2020), and, since 1990, has been a regular columnist for the official publication of the Labor and Employment Law Section of the State Bar of California and the Los Angeles Daily Journal. Tony has been a featured guest on Fox 11 News and CBS News in Los Angeles. He has been interviewed and quoted by leading national media outlets such as The National Law Journal, Bloomberg News, The New York Times, and Newsweek and Time magazines. Tony is a frequent speaker on employment law topics for large and small groups of employers and their counsel, including the Society for Human Resource Management ("SHRM"), PIHRA, the National CLE Conference, National Business Institute, the Employment Round Table of Southern California (Board Member), the Council on Education in Management, the Institute for Corporate Counsel, the State Bar of California, the California Continuing Education of the Bar Program and the Los Angeles and Beverly Hills Bar Associations. He has testified as an expert witness regarding wage and hour issues as well as the California Fair Employment and Housing Act and has served as a faculty member of the National Employment Law Institute. He has served as an arbitrator in an employment discrimination matter. Tony is an appointed Hearing Examiner for the Los Angeles Police Commission Board of Rights and has served as an Adjunct Professor of Law and a guest lecturer at USC Law School and a guest lecturer at UCLA Law School.

Keisha-Ann Gray

Keisha-Ann G. Gray is a distinguished litigator and trial lawyer who has secured significant victories in federal and state courts (jury trial and otherwise) for organizations facing “bet the company”, high-reaching, reputational risk claims. An award-winning partner in Proskauer’s renowned Labor & Employment department and co-chair of the Firm’s Workplace Investigations practice group, she advises clients on high-stakes employment litigation and complex investigations matters. As important social change movements like Black Lives Matter, #MeToo and LGBTQ Pride continue to shape society and businesses, Keisha-Ann is the go-to advisor when addressing issues related to discrimination, harassment and/or lack of diversity. With 20+ years in practice, Keisha-Ann frequently speaks and trains on employment matters such as litigation and trial practice, conducting effective investigations (the trauma-based approach), Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, and Anti-Discrimination/Anti-Harassment. Her “real talk” style of delivery provides clients with actionable and practical best practice solutions to today’s most challenging workplace issues. Prior to joining Proskauer, Keisha-Ann served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of New York and federal law clerk in the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico.  The breadth of Keisha-Ann’s experience and background in federal government, coupled with her tenure in private practice as a Big Law partner and employment litigator, gives her the unique ability to meaningfully connect with diverse groups of people. This skill enables her to advocate effectively and successfully (in and out of the courtroom) for her clients. As a result, Keisha-Ann is also frequently called upon to conduct high-profile internal investigations. Because of her unique and varied skill set, clients routinely engage Keisha-Ann to handle their most sensitive matters which, due to her involvement, often successfully result in non-public, confidential resolutions – precisely the mandate required by her clients. Keisha-Ann enjoys giving back to the community and profession by serving as a member of the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on the Judiciary. She also serves on the Board of the Attorney Grievance Committee for the NY Supreme Court Appellate Division, 1st Department, the Board of the Federal Bar Council, and the Board of the Eastern District Association. In addition, Keisha-Ann co-Chairs the Federal Bar Council’s Employment Litigation Committee, and mentors junior attorneys.

Nigel Telman

Nigel F. Telman leads the employment practice in Proskauer's Chicago office and is co-head of the Employment Litigation & Arbitration Group. Nigel's practice is concentrated in litigating single and class action disputes arising out of claims of workplace harassment and employment discrimination. He also represents employers in collective and class actions involving allegations of wage and hour violations under federal and state law. In addition, Nigel has significant experience defending and enforcing Restrictive Covenant Agreements, as well as protecting employers' trade secrets and other confidential information from misappropriation by former employees through the institution of emergency litigation seeking temporary and permanent injunctive relief. Nigel utilizes his experience litigating employment-related disputes to counsel clients on effective ways to avoid such litigation and when needed conducts investigations where there are allegations of harassment and discrimination. His counseling practice focuses on training and advising clients on ways to improve all aspects of the employment relationship, including techniques on how to make effective hiring decisions; reviewing and revising employment policies, practices and procedures; and advising on employee disciplinary matters, reductions in force and termination decisions. Nigel represents clients before state and federal courts throughout the country as well as before the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Illinois Human Rights Commission and the American Arbitration Association.

Michelle Annese

Michelle A. Annese is a partner in the Labor & Employment Law Department, Administrative Lead of the Investigations Practice Group, and a member of the Employment Litigation & Arbitration Group. Michelle represents employers in a variety of industries including financial services, retail, entertainment and sports. She assists them with a wide range of labor and employment matters involving employment discrimination and retaliation, sexual harassment and wrongful discharge. She has conducted numerous investigations on behalf of employers. Michelle regularly appears in state and federal courts, as well as in proceedings before the American Arbitration Association, JAMS, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and other federal and state agencies. In addition to litigating, Michelle counsels clients on compliance with employment-related laws, and on developing, implementing and enforcing personnel policies and procedures.