Overview

Since founding KM&M in 1972, Jerry Kauff has represented many of the world's leading entertainment, media, publishing, broadcasting, and performing arts companies in labor relations, collective bargaining, and employment law matters. As a highly skilled negotiator, he has successfully concluded hundreds of collective bargaining agreements on behalf of employers in industries ranging from printing and communications to entertainment, retail, and construction.

Jerry has also developed a particular expertise in the use of innovative dispute resolution and mediation techniques as alternatives to litigation, negotiating settlements in numerous high-profile labor and employment-related disputes. He is a prominent figure in the world of labor and employment law and is often asked to speak and write on a wide variety of sub-specialties within this complex field of law.

Jerry attended New York University School of Law where he earned his law degree and masters degree in labor law. He was a member of NYU's Moot Court Board and was a member of the winning team of NYU's Moot Court competition. Upon graduation from law school, he joined the legal staff of the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union. After five years with the ILGWU, he joined the firm of Phillips, Nizer, Benjamin, Krim & Ballon, where he represented both labor and management and became a partner.

Education

  • LL.M., New York University School of Law 
  • LL.B., New York University School of Law
  • B.A., Brooklyn College

Affiliations

  • Chairman, Committee on Labor and Employment Law, Association of the Bar of
    the City of New York
  • Chairman, Committee on Continuing Legal Education, Labor and Employment Law
    Section, New York State Bar Association
  • Charter Member, NYU School of Law Center for Labor & Employment Law Advisory
    Board
  • Member, Labor and Employment Law Advisory Committee, Practising Law Institute
  • Fellow, The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers

Publications

  • Co-Editor, Practising Law Institute programs including Litigation of Unjust Dismissal Claims, Employment Problems in the Workplace, Litigation of Age
    Discrimination Claims, and Advanced Strategies in Employment Law
  • Co-author (with Laura L. Putney), Sexual Harassment: The Labor Law Dimension, published in Sexual Harassment in the Workplace
  • Co-author (with Laura L. Putney), Obtaining Gilmer Agreements in the Union Sector, presented at 53rd Annual New York University Conference on Labor and
    Employment Law
  • Co-author, Terminating the Employment Relationship – Under Increasing Restraints, Legal Notes and Viewpoints Quarterly