Arbitrator and Mediator
Grand Rapids,
Michigan
Thomas J. Barnes spent his advocacy career representing employers in union organizing campaigns, labor negotiations, work disputes, arbitrations, and in labor matters before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and courts with an emphasis on preventive policies and practices and practical solutions. As an advocate, he forged strong working relationships with his counterparts and the various agencies in the labor and employment relations arena. Prior to his law career, Mr. Barnes was a consultant to employee healthcare unions in organizing, bargaining, and arbitration matters before the NLRB and the Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC). Effective January 1, 2011, he has left his advocacy role and is now a full-time arbitrator; before then, he had occasionally served as an arbitrator (interest and contract cases) for MERC for 16 years. Mr. Barnes now serves as an American Arbitration Association (AAA) arbitrator for employment (non-union) disputes in addition to being on the AAA and Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service labor arbitration panels. He is a longstanding active member of the Committee on Practice and Procedure Under the NLRA, a committee of the American Bar Association's Section of Labor and Employment Law. Listed in "The Best Lawyers in America," "Chambers, USA," and "Michigan Super Lawyers," Mr. Barnes is a former chairperson of the State Bar of Michigan's Labor and Employment Law Section, a recipient of the section's Distinguished Service Award, and a fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers.
|