Kelley Drye & Warren LLP

Partner

A nationally recognized and respected advocate and advisor for employers across a broad spectrum of industries, Mark Konkel leverages his substantive legal knowledge and appreciation of employment relationship dynamics to keep his clients’ greatest assets—their people—from becoming costly liabilities.

Chair of the firm’s Labor and Employment practice, Mark has a long track record of winning judgments and dismissals in employment disputes, defeating certification of employment class actions, obtaining injunctions to prevent unfair competition, and creating effective strategies for responding to and working with organized labor.

His counseling on employment matters is practical, proactive, and grounded in each client’s business and operational realities. Mark’s clients know that when they have questions or concerns, he will be on the other end of the phone or in their offices with the answers and guidance they need. Clients told Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business that Mark ​“is an exceptional attorney who brings a wealth of experience and practical insight to every matter he handles,” ​“is personable, knowledgeable,” ​“attentive and responsive,” ​“provides really commercial and practical advice” and ​“is committed to achieving the best results for us. His only concern is serving his client.”

Mark is an accomplished litigator with an impressive history of successfully defending companies in employment, labor, and commercial disputes in court, arbitration, mediation, and before governmental agencies. He wins superior results for his clients in disputes involving discrimination, breach of contract, organized labor, employee privacy, restrictive covenants and trade secrets, employment agreements, and class action claims.

Mark recognizes the costs and burdens that are often a byproduct of protracted litigation and endeavors to minimize the drag on his clients’ businesses through clear, consistent communication and strategies that achieve positive outcomes with minimal disruption.

As leader of the firm’s employment class action defense team, Mark routinely defeats class actions in state and federal jurisdictions across the country, reducing potentially large class actions into a manageable handful of easy-to-resolve individual claims.

When his clients draw unwanted governmental scrutiny, Mark guides them through sensitive internal and government investigations of discrimination, harassment, wage-and-hour violations, whistleblower issues, and ethics violations. He manages communications and public relations during an investigation to free his clients to focus on running their businesses while he focuses on managing their risk.

Mark practices regularly before the National Labor Relations Board in regions across the United States. He works closely with leaders across industry sectors to develop and drive company-wide strategies for responding effectively to organized labor. His extensive experience in traditional labor law translates into a deep, practical knowledge of the real-world, real-time tactics that make a labor strategy effective. Mark also handles major collective bargaining, unfair labor practice charges, trials before the NLRB, and union organizing.

In his compliance counseling practice, Mark provides seasoned, strategic advice on HR law, discrimination law, employee privacy, protection of intellectual property, noncompetition agreements and other restrictive covenants, M&A transactions, and business expansions and reductions-in-force. Mark’s clients appreciate his practical focus on their operational objectives, the economic and regulatory pressures they face, and his ability to help them recognize, understand, and address systemic risks and vulnerabilities. His counsel not only addresses immediate concerns but also considers the broader, long-term implications and impact of a given approach.

Mark’s guidance and insights are also critical in significant corporate transactions, where he serves as lead labor and employment law counsel in mergers, sales, acquisitions, due diligence, and business consolidations. His transactions experience includes advising domestic and international enterprises on cross-border employment and labor issues.

Mark is a lead editor for Kelley Drye’s Labor Days blog and a member of the Labor & Employment Sections of the American Bar Association, New York Bar Association, and the International Association of Privacy Professionals.