Profile

Pete is co-chair of the firm's Higher Education practice. His practice focuses on employment discrimination, labor and employment law, union negotiations and labor contract administration, representation before the NLRB, employer counseling, representation of institutions before the Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights, and student discrimination matters.

Pete has experience in a wide variety of employment litigation matters, including employment-at-will and breach of contract, employment discrimination and harassment, and restrictive covenants and post-employment non-compete and confidentiality matters. He has also handled a wide variety of student accommodation issues.

Pete is a frequent speaker on a variety of labor and employment topics, and has served as a guest lecturer at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. He has also written extensively on labor and employment law topics, having authored articles that appeared in the New York State Society for Human Resource Management's HR Review, the Labor Lawyer and the Journal of College and University Law.

  • Listed in:
    • The Best Lawyers in America®, Employment Law - Management; Labor Law - Management; Litigation - Labor and Employment, 2009-2025 (listed for more than 15 years)
      • Lawyer of the Year (Syracuse), Labor Law - Management, 2013; 2018; 2022, 2025
      • Lawyer of the Year (Syracuse), Employment Law - Management, 2021, 2024
      • Lawyer of the Year (Syracuse), Litigation - Labor and Employment, 2020
    • New York Super Lawyers®, Employment and Labor, 2023 (listed for more than 10 years)
    • Martindale-Hubbell®, AV Preeminent Rated
      • Top-Rated Lawyer in Labor and Employment Law
  • American Bar Association, Labor and Employment Law Section
  • New York State Bar Association, Labor and Employment Law Section
  • Onondaga County Bar Association
  • Society for Human Resource Management
  • CNY SHRM Board of Directors
  • National Association of College and University Attorneys
  • College and University Professional Association for Human Resources
  • Articles Editor, University of Pennsylvania Law Review

  • Labor Negotiations in US Higher Education: Bargaining with Student Workers and Non-Traditional Employees, Employment Law Alliance, October 25, 2023
  • Panelist, Recent Updates in Private Sector Labor & Employment Law, Labor and Employment Law Section Fall Meeting 2023, New York State Bar Association, October 20, 2023
  • A Special Episode with Peter Jones, Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. Harvard, Legally Bond Podcast, July 7, 2023
  • DC Briefing: Courts and Agencies Act As Congress Remains Gridlocked, Employment Law Alliance, March 29, 2023
  • DC Briefing: Review of Recent Developments in the Legal Landscape that Impacts U.S. Employers, Employment Law Alliance, September 13, 2022
  • An Interview with Monica Barrett and Peter Jones, Higher Education, Legally Bond Podcast, April 4, 2022
  • Employment Matters Podcast, Episode 303: NLRA Employee Status of Players at Academic Institutions, Employment Law Alliance, October 14, 2021
  • A Special Episode with Peter Jones, NLRB Memo on Student Athletes, Legally Bond Podcast, October 7, 2021
  • Employment Matters Podcast, Episode 231: NLRB Developments Impacting Higher Education, Employment Law Alliance, March 29, 2021
  • 2020 Year in Review, Chambers and Partners Employment Series, December 9, 2020
  • Changes in Direction, Chambers and Partners Employment Series, November 17, 2020
  • NY Paid Sick Leave, Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities, October 28, 2020
  • Reopening Legal Issues Roundtable, Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities, June 4, 2020
  • The FFCRA and the CARES Act -- Simplifying the Key Employment Law Provisions, Law Firm Alliance, April 7, 2020
  • Legal Update, Upstate New York Healthcare Human Resource Conference, October 7, 2016
  • What the NLRB Ruling on Student Assistants Means for Private Colleges and Universities, Employment Law Alliance Webinar, September 13, 2016

  • Quoted in "Student-Athlete Employee Issue Just the Start for NLRB’s Counsel," Bloomberg Law, October 1, 2021
  • Quoted in "NLRB Ruling Blurs Line Between Students, Employees," Law360, August 23, 2016

  • General Counsel, New York State Golf Association