Michael Jakowsky

Michael Jakowsky is a principal in the New York City, New York, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. He partners with clients on all aspects of their workplace strategy, from proactive advice, counsel and training to litigation defense and transactional support. Michael wants his clients to know they can rely on him for support—no matter the concern.

Aspiring to become an extension of his client’s team, Michael prioritizes gaining a thorough understanding of their business to find solutions and achieve results consistent with their goals, legal needs, and culture. Proactive counseling is a key to maintaining compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws. Michael works with management teams to achieve compliance with a particular focus on wage and hour, including the FLSA, as well as disability leave management (including the FMLA), and reductions-in-force (including WARN).

A key focus of Michael’s practice involves helping clients faced with implementing reductions-in-force and reorganizations. He serves as national counsel to clients conducting workforce reductions—attempting to achieve the delicate balance of minimizing the potential for litigation while fostering positive employee relations. When the COVID-19 crisis forced many businesses to consider headcount reductions to weather the pandemic, Michael led the firm’s Managing Your Work Force and WARN Act Compliance Task Force to ensure clients received the information and support needed to make informed decisions.

Michael is often consulted on purchase and sale transactions to work with clients’ transactional counsel on employment due diligence, WARN/RIF, immigration, and union implications of transactions.

If litigation of any type becomes unavoidable, Michael seamlessly transitions to defender—leveraging his litigation experience and knowledge of the client’s business to defend against single plaintiff and class actions covering a wide range of employment related claims, including wage and hour, WARN, discrimination, wrongful discharge, breach of contract and other claims.

Michael represents numerous banks and brings a sophisticated understanding of the financial industry’s unique employment challenges and trends, delivering advice tailored to his clients’ needs and environment.