Howard K. Kurman

Principal

Washington Area: Phone 301.575.0317 | Fax 301.575.0335
Baltimore Area: Phone 443.738.1517 | Fax 443.738.1535
hkurman@offitkurman.com

Practice Areas
Labor & Employment
Commercial Litigation
Alternative Dispute Resolution

Practice Focus
Howard K. Kurman is Chair of the firm’s Labor & Employment and Litigation Department. Mr. Kurman regularly counsels clients on all aspects of proactive employment/labor issues. He represents employers ranging in size from as small as 20 employees to those employers with geographically disparate locations consisting of over 4,000 employees. Mr. Kurman assures, through regular contact with his clients, that they promulgate and maintain the most effective employment policies that will, to the extent possible, minimize their legal exposure in today’s litigious workplace. Mr. Kurman offers advice on employee handbooks, employment agreements, covenants not to compete and confidentiality and non-disclosure Agreements. Mr. Kurman is also a skilled employment litigator who has successfully represented employers in a myriad of administrative and judicial litigation before the NLRB, EEOC, federal and state courts, and other administrative agencies such as the Department of Labor and OFCCP. Mr. Kurman also counsels clients on union relations and regularly conducts collective bargaining negotiations on behalf of his unionized clients.

Education
LL.M (Labor Law), Georgetown University Law Center, 1981
J.D. (cum laude), University of Maryland, 1975
B.S. (summa cum laude -Phi Beta Kappa), University of Maryland, 1972

Bar and Court Admissions
Maryland
Supreme Court of the United States
United States District Court, District Court of Maryland
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

Points of Distinction
Mr. Kurman has developed a reputation for providing representation to his management clients that is predicated upon sound practical legal advice. Upon returning to private practice after working several years in in-house labor positions (at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, and at The Baltimore Sun), Mr. Kurman assumed his current position as head of his firm’s labor/employment department. His prior in-house experience has enabled Mr. Kurman to relate to the middle and upper management levels of any company in a non-legalistic and practical manner. This has greatly benefited Mr. Kurman’s employment/labor clients because he has been able to provide common sense solutions to often very sensitive employment issues. Mr. Kurman’s clients often perceive him as part of their trusted advisory team so that he is often consulted before an employment issue arises as opposed to after the problem has become a much more inflammatory one to resolve.

Mr. Kurman has represented several employers in discrimination/harassment cases in which he has successfully obtained summary judgment decisions in federal court and/or favorable settlements after conducting aggressive and strategically planned depositions of the named plaintiffs. Additionally, Mr. Kurman has regularly advised his clients on how to successfully and proactively plan and implement employee terminations, reductions in force, and post-termination protections involving covenants not to compete and protection of company trade secrets. Finally, Mr. Kurman has successfully guided many companies through threatened unionization of their employees, and for those companies that are already unionized he has negotiated on their behalf very favorable collective bargaining agreements that improve operational efficiency and increase enterprise profitability.

Mr. Kurman is listed in the 10th Edition of Who’s Who in American Law. In 2007, he was selected as a member of Baltimore’s Legal Elite by Smart CEO magazine. He also received the highest professional (AV) rating from his peers, as reported by Martindale-Hubbell.

Activities
Mr. Kurman is a past president of the Maryland Chapter of the Industrial Relations Research Association. He is active in numerous professional and charitable organizations, including the litigation and employment law sections of the American and Maryland Bar Associations. Mr. Kurman is also a certified mediator who has successfully presided over numerous employment disputes in which amicable resolutions to such disputes have been achieved with Mr. Kurman’s assistance as the chosen mediator. Mr. Kurman is a member of his Offit Kurman’s Management Committee.

Publications/Speeches
Mr. Kurman is a regular speaker and author on all topics of labor and employment issues.