Profile

A graduate of Columbia Law School (1962) and the University of Michigan (Economics) (1959), Michael is a labor and employment law attorney who began his career with the New York Regional Office of the National Labor Relations Board. Since entering private practice in 1965, he has represented management in all facets of labor and employment law, both in for-profit and not-for-profit settings, including in his capacities as Partner with Aranow, Brodsky, Bohlinger, Benetar, Einhorn & Dann; Partner with Benetar Isaacs Bernstein & Schair; Managing Partner with Benetar, Bernstein, Schair & Stein; and Senior Partner and now Of Counsel with Bond, Schoeneck & King.  He is a frequent lecturer and, as well, contributing editor and author to major federal and state labor and employment law treatises and periodicals, and to Chambers Global Practice Guide, USA Regional Employment.

In 2015 Michael was honored with a “Lifetime Achievement Award” by the New York State Bar Association, Labor and Employment Law Section.  He also has been elected as a Fellow of the American Bar Association; a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers; and a Fellow of the New York Bar Foundation.  In 1992, his firm, Benetar Bernstein Schair & Stein was the recipient of The Reliance Award for Excellence in Education, Outstanding Small Business in New York City.

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  • Listed in:
    • The Best Lawyers in America®, Employment Law - Management, Labor Law - Management, Litigation - Labor and Employment, 1987-2025 (listed for more than 35 years)
    • Chambers USA 2024, Labor & Employment – New York
    • New York Metro Super Lawyers®, Employment & Labor, 2022

  • 2020 Chambers USA Regional Employment Guide, Introduction Author
  • 2019 Chambers USA Regional Employment Guide, First and Second Edition, Sole Contributing Editor

  • The Future of Affirmative Action in the Workplace, New York City LERA and The Metropolitan Black Bar Association, February 21, 2023
  • How to be an Anti-Racist Labor Lawyer, New York State Bar Association, Labor and Employment Section, October 15, 2021
  • Annual Employment Law Workshop for Federal Judges, Session Moderator, Implicit Bias, April 28, 2021
  • Annual Employment Law Workshop for Federal Judges, Panelist, Implicit Bias, March 9, 2020