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50th Annual Public Employment Labor Relations Forum

Join your colleagues from the City, County, and Local Government Law and Labor and Employment Law sections from October 17–18, 2024, at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort in Lake Buena Vista for this timely, engaging two-day CLE. The program is in person only—no live webcast—and is a unique opportunity to learn from and network with some of the nation’s top labor and employment law professionals. View the event brochure here.

The agenda includes an optional, free, half-day workshop on the Special Magistrate process and careers in ADR benefiting Special Magistrates and practitioners alike. The main conference includes a 50-year retrospective on PERA plus commentary on what the next 50 years will bring. Our speakers will also share insights about public sector discipline and discharge, elected officials and their roles and risks, the law of unilateral change, the new face of protected concerted activity, the unanswered questions on SB256 and SB 1746, an 11th Circuit update, and more. This is a “can’t miss” program for all management and union practitioners alike.

Course number 8618 is approved for 12 CLE credits, all of which may be applied toward Ethics; and 12 certification credits each in City, County, and Local Government Law; Labor and Employment Law; and State and Federal Government and Administrative Practice. Members of each sponsoring section register for only $660.

AGENDA & PRESENTERS

Day One—October 17
Optional Half-Day Workshop (no extra cost to attendees)
The workshop focuses on the Special Magistrate process and careers in ADR.
8:30–8:35 AM Welcome

Program Chairs Glenn Thomas, Lewis, Longman & Walker, P.A.; and Deborah C. BrownBrown Law & Consulting

8:35–9:25 AM Structure and Process: Running an Effective Impasse Resolution Dispute Procedure

Kenneth Starr, Starr ADR; and Michael G. Whelan

9:25–10:15 AM After the Hearing: Post–Hearing Observations and Insights

Tom Young, Mediator, Arbitrator & Special Magistrate

10:15–10:25 AM BREAK (coffee/snack service)
10:25–11:15 AM Pitfalls and Practice Pointers

Stephen A. Meck and Jeffrey E. Mandel, Fisher Phillips

11:15 AM–12:05 PM Creating and Marketing Your Neutral Practice

Kelly Overstreet Johnson, Overstreet Johnson Mediation & Arbitration

12:10–1 PM LUNCH on your own
Day One—October 17
Main Conference
1:00–1:15 PM Welcome Program Chairs Glenn Thomas, Lewis, Longman & Walker, P.A.; and Deborah C. BrownBrown Law & Consulting
1:15–2:05 PM PERA Turns 50: Enduring Cases and Observations After 5 Decades

Stephen A. Meck; Thomas Brooks; and Michael Mattimore, Allen Norton & Blue

2:05–2:55 PM Desperately Seeking Stability: Union Registration, Dues, and Strategies for Calming the Storm Martin Powell, Meyer, Blohm and Powell, P.A.; and Sacha Dyson, Bush Graziano Rice & Hearing, P.A.
2:55–3:10 PM BREAK/SNACKS/SOFT DRINKS
3:10–4 PM Elected Officials: The Ethics and Risks in Shifting Roles

Stephanie M. MarchmanGrayRobinson, P.A.

4–4:50 PM Change is Hard: Waivers, Exigency, and Other Defenses to Unilateral Change David C. Miller, Bryant Miller Olive
5–6 PM
6–8 PM RECEPTION (Beverages, Appetizers & Camaraderie)
 
Day Two—October 18
Main Conference
7:45–8:30 AM CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST
8:30–8:40 AM Welcome Program Chairs Glenn Thomas, Lewis, Longman & Walker, P.A.; and Deborah C. BrownBrown Law & Consulting
8:40–9:30 AM Let’s Get Organized: Secrets to Staying Compliant in Union Organizing Campaigns, Elections, and Beyond

Mark W. Floyd, Mierzwa & Floyd, P.A.; and Jeffrey E. MandelFisher Phillips

9:30–10:20 AM The New Face of Protected Concerted Activity: Rights and Responses

D. Marcus Braswell Jr., Sugarman, Susskind, Braswell & Herrera; Erin Jackson, Johnson Jackson PLLC; and Thomas Brooks, Moderator

10:20–10:30 AM BREAK
10:30–11:20 AM The Death of Public Sector Unions: Myth or Reality Mark Richard, Phillips, Richard & Rind, P.A.
11:20 AM–12:10 PM Eleventh Circuit Update Damon Kitchen, Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete
12:10–1:15 PM LUNCH honoring past Commissioners and General  Counsel Kerey Carpenter, Chair, Public Employees Relations Commission
1:15–2:05 PM You’re Fired (or Not): Discipline and Discharge in a Unionized Environment

Richard Siwica, Egan, Lev, Lindstrom & Siwica, P.A.; and Brian Koji, Allen, Norton & Blue, P.A.

2:05–2:55 PM Implementation of SB256 & SB 1746 and PERC Case Update Gregg Morton and Janeia Ingram, Public Employees Relations Commission
2:55–3:05 PM BREAK
3:05–3:55 PM Bargaining over Retirement Benefits: Tips and Traps

Glenn Thomas, Lewis, Longman & Walker, P.A.

4:55–4:45 PM The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Unraveling Unit Configuration and Modification

Deborah C. BrownBrown Law & Consulting