Diane B. Patrick
Senior Counsel
Diane Patrick retired as a partner at the end of 2016 and is currently a senior counsel at the firm. She has over thirty years of experience representing and advising employers in connection with a broad range of labor and employment-related matters. She provided strategic counseling to clients regarding their compliance with federal and state employment laws, represented clients before the National Labor Relations Board as well as other federal administrative agencies, counseled employers on matters involving wage and hour regulations, and provided general advice on employment policies and practices. Diane had an extensive practice negotiating collective bargaining agreements, providing counsel on contract administration, and representing employers in labor arbitrations. She regularly assisted federal contractors in meeting their federal contract compliance obligations and has successfully defended numerous employers during federal contract compliance reviews.
In addition to her years in private practice, Diane served for eight years at Harvard University as both University Attorney responsible for Harvard’s labor and employment matters and as the University’s Associate Vice President of Human Resources.
Experience
- Negotiated an initial collective bargaining agreement on behalf of a multi-campus international university with a full-time faculty bargaining unit that formed their union after their vote of no-confidence resulted in the ouster of the university’s president. Handled subsequent negotiations of wage reopeners with same bargaining unit.
- Advised a number of colleges and universities during the global economic downturn regarding layoffs and reductions in force, including restructuring, early retirement packages and layoff incentives.
- Successfully represented a large university in a 10-year audit by the US DOL’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs which was prompted by a class discrimination complaint filed by female faculty members. The OFCCP investigated, among other things, wage equity concerns, hiring processes, and data collection and reporting systems, as well as retaliation claims filed by some members of the class.
- Successfully defended a major teaching hospital’s right to prohibit the nurses’ union from posting notices of a strike vote on union bulletin boards located in public areas of the hospital.
- Successfully closed federal government compliances review for a major health care institution and international financial institution.