Zach has trained as a mediator with the New York City Bar Association, the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University School of Law, the New York Peace Institute—where he has served an apprenticeship in cases dealing with workplace, community and consumer disputes— and the National Employment Law Institute.
This training augments his extensive practical experiences with mediation. He has participated in hundreds of mediations in federal and state courts and agencies in matters involving employment discrimination, contractual issues, issues arising under the National Labor Relations Act as well as claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act and state law equivalents. As a seasoned labor negotiator, he has been involved in the mediation of many collective bargaining disputes throughout his career.
Zach’s extensive litigation experience allows him to speak with authority in mediation about the litigation process and possible outcomes.
Additional expertise
In Zach’s former role as an advocate, he tried scores of cases in federal and state courts, including numerous jury trials, involving a wide range of labor and employment issues. He also has extensive experience before federal agencies, including serving as principal trial counsel in an 82-day National Labor Relations Board trial, and in many other labor and labor-related cases.
He is also a well-known appellate advocate, perhaps best known for his two Supreme Court victories in Golden State Transit Corp.v City of Los Angeles, a labor preemption case that he ultimately tried to verdict during a nine week jury trial, resulting in the largest plaintiff’s verdict that year in the Central District of California (Los Angeles). He has argued cases in seven of the 12 federal circuit courts and has written many amicus curiae briefs to the Supreme Court and federal agencies considering significant issues.
Zach has a particular expertise in class and collective litigation, arising from many class actions that he handled during his career, and has lectured and written on many class action issues. He has taught class and collective action issues to members of the federal judiciary, and has substantial experience in dealing with every aspect of the litigation process—ranging from discovery to experts and evidentiary issues to remedial issues in single plaintiff as well as multi-party litigation.