Attorney Profile

Stephen D. Hans, Esq.

New York Employment Defense Attorney

Stephen D. Hans has practiced law in New York City for over 40 years. His legal career began at a general litigation firm in 1977, after which he first founded his own firm two years later.

In 1979, Mr. Hans was presented with an opportunity to represent a NYCTA bus operator who was suspended for refusing to drive an unsafe bus. Mr. Hans prevailed at that hearing and restored the bus operator to his job. Mr. Hans’s successful representation in that case did not go unnoticed, and the bus operators’ union in Queens and the sister local in Staten Island soon retained Mr. Hans as their General Counsel for all employment and labor matters.

In 1980, the New York City Transit unions called a historic strike, stopping all public transit in NYC, and culminating in a highly-publicized statutory penalty trial. AsGeneral Counsel to the bus unions, Mr. Hans was deeply involved, both defending the union’s actions at trial , while simultaneously assisting with the labor negotiations. Ultimately, Mr. Hans successfully kept the union leaders out of jail and significantly limited the financial penalties imposed by the New York Supreme Court.

As a result of that representation, Mr. Hans continued representing the bus operator unions for over a decade. Over the years, he handled hundreds of labor grievances, arbitrations, and disciplinary hearings, while also representing the unions in various state and federal lawsuits.

Throughout the 1980’s, Mr. Hans continued to develop his labor and employment law practice, while authoring several articles of interest on employment law topics, conducting CLE seminars, and becoming the Chairperson of the Labor Relations Committee of the Queens County Bar Association. In addition to labor matters, the firm also handled a diverse array of complex employment claims, including wage and hour cases and claims of workplace discrimination and sex harassment.

At the start of the 1990’s, Mr. Hans was still primarily representing employees. However, as the decade wore on, many small and mid-size employers also began selecting Mr. Hans’ firm to defend their businesses against a variety of lawsuits, including claims of discrimination, union-related issues, sex harassment, employment contracts, and more. As his representation of employer’s increased, Mr. Hans began to notice that there was a shortage of experienced counsel in New York dedicating their practice to the representation of small and mid-sized employers in labor and employment law matters.

THE FIRM CHANGES DIRECTION

By 2000, the firm’s representation of small and mid-sized employers had grown exponentially, along with Mr. Hans’ reputation as a passionate advocate for businesses throughout New York City. Lawsuits against employers were rapidly increasing as employees began routinely suing their employers for a variety of claims, but primarily for wage and hour violations. Additionally, the New York State and United States Departments of Labor had doubled their volume of audits and investigations, resulting in large numbers of smaller employers needing legal assistance in this area.

WAGE AND HOUR CLAIMS

In the 2000’s, the plaintiff’s bar began filing employee claims and lawsuits at an astounding pace, as small and mid-size employers were subjected to a multitude of federal and state claims of unpaid wages. The huge volume of these lawsuits has never let up to date, as New York employers are routinely subjected to expensive and potentially damaging claims like these on a daily basis.

Mr. Hans believes that these lawsuits must be handled by experienced employment attorneys, as they have the knowledge and experience necessary to properly advise a small business owner on how to handle such cases and to develop compliance strategies to avoid similar claims in the future.

Toward that end, the firm responds to open compliance issues in our client’s businesses by providing forms, education, analysis, and comprehensive strategies that minimize business risk from employee lawsuits. The goal for any employer should be to eliminate any future wage and hour claims by fully complying with applicable law to limit legal exposure wherever possible. Small and mid-size businesses simply cannot withstand repeated, costly lawsuits, and Mr. Hans believes that an attorney is not doing his/her job properly if they do not help their clients develop a plan to combat them.

OTHER EMPLOYMENT LAW CLAIMS

Today, Mr. Hans’ firm is a leading employment defense firm, having represented employers before the United States District Courts, New York State Supreme Courts, the NYS and US Departments of Labor, the NYS Division of Human Rights, the EEOC, and a variety of other municipal, state, and federal agencies in all areas of labor and employment law.

Many of our clients are restaurants, retail businesses, construction companies, medical practices, and consulting firms, although we have successfully represented virtually all types of small and mid-sized businesses over the years throughout the New York metropolitan area. We structure our legal fee arrangements and defense strategies specifically to help our clients best manage the impacts of expensive and time consuming employee litigation.

While we are passionate advocates for our clients and aggressive litigators, we take special pride in advising our clients on how to comply with the ever-changing panoply of employment and labor laws affecting their businesses. We realize that a productive and prosperous business is one in which the employees are viewed as number one asset, and where the business operates seamlessly with proper policies and procedures that fully comply with an ever changing legal and regulatory landscape. Our overarching goal for our clients is always the same: the complete protection of your business from costly employee lawsuits and government investigations.

Practice Areas

Protect Your Business

Union-grievances-arbitration-collective-bargaining

Employment-Contracts-Severance-Agreements

human-resources-consulting-&-employment-law-compliance

Bar & Court Admissions

New York State Bar, 1977
U. S. District Court; U. S. 2^nd Circuit Court of Appeals
U.S. Supreme Court

Education

University of Mississippi Law Center, Oxford, MS; J.D.
John’s University; B.A.

Civic Involvement

Board member and Counsel – Chamber Orchestra of New York
Counsel and former Board member – Queens Botanical Garden
Board member – Boys & Girls Club of New York; Queens, New York

Professional Associations & Activities

Queens County Bar Association, Board of Managers; 2001-2006
Queens County Bar Association Labor Relations Committee Chairperson; 1998-Present
Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Labor Law Panel
Appellate Division, 2^nd Department, Grievance Committee
1999- Commentator – Johnnie Cochran TV show as a legal commentator on various employment law topics including commenting on the sex harassment lawsuit with Paula Jones and President Clinton
Developed a variety of Continuing Legal Education courses for the Queens County Bar
Author of numerous articles on a variety of employment law topics, such as wage and hour violations, discrimination, severance agreements, and disability issues in the New York area
Lecturer on employment law topics for business owners

Located in Long Island City, Queens, New York, the attorneys at Stephen D. Hans & Associates represent clients throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Manhattan, Wall Street, Midtown Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island; and throughout Westchester County and Nassau and Suffolk. .

30-30 Northern Blvd. Suite 401, Long Island City, New York 11101

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