Lawline Faculty Bio
Murray Schwartz
Website: http://www.schwartzandperry.com/
Practice Areas: Employment Law
Phone Number: (212) 889-6565
Visit: Schwartz & Perry, LLP
Murray Schwartz has been practicing law since 1949. He is admitted to practice in the State of New York and in the U.S. District Courts of Eastern and Southern Districts of New York. Throughout his years of practice, Mr. Schwartz has been involved in many areas of law, always with an emphasis on litigation. More than 10 years ago, he directed and focused the firm almost exclusively to representing victims of sexual harassment and discrimination based on age, disability, pregnancy, ethnic, racial and sexual orientation so that, at this time, this specialty is now the firms primary emphasis. His dedication to this ideal has resulted in a successful and expanding employment law practice, in which his daughter, Davida S. Perry, joined as a partner in 1991.
Mr. Schwartz is widely recognized as the lead trial attorney who represented the plaintiff in the landmark case of Thoreson v. Guccione and Penthouse Magazine, a sexual harassment case of first impression, which has been cited repeatedly. In Thoreson v. Guccione and Penthouse Magazine, the finding of sexual harassment was sustained on appeal, which set a significant precedent by supporting the position that a victim of sexual harassment can establish the claim based on the victim's testimony alone. In 1991, the City of New York enacted a Human Rights Law authorizing a private cause of judicial action for victims of employment discrimination. The New York City Law was challenged in Bracker v. Cohen, one of the first cases brought under that law in which Mr. Schwartz represented the plaintiff and successfully argued at both the trial court and the appellate level on behalf of the law's constitutionality. Bracker v. Cohen was also a case of first impression, and confirmed the validity and constitutionality of the New York City Law, with respect to the relief it made available to New York City victims of employment discrimination.
More recently, in June 1997, Mr. Schwartz represented and served as lead trial attorney for the plaintiff in McIntyre v. Manhattan Ford, Lincoln Mercury, a suit for sexual harassment, retaliation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. A Manhattan jury awarded the plaintiff $6.6 million, which award, even after being reduced by the trial court and then by the appellate court, still stands as one of the highest awards for sexual harassment in New York State and among the highest in the country.
Mr. Schwartz also serves as a consultant to other attorneys in the field of employment law and lectures and writes in this field. He frequently speaks at conferences attended by attorneys employed in the field of employment law. He has appeared as a panelist at symposiums sponsored by both St. John's University and the New York State Bar Association. Mr. Schwartz regularly lectures at conferences conducted by the Practising Law Institute and the National Employment Lawyers Association. Mr. Schwartz has also authored: "Binding Arbitration May Weaken Workers' Rights," The National Law Journal (August 1994) and "Sexual Harassment: Need It Be a Way of Life?," Marina (1995), and has co-authored "Strategies for Settlement," 2nd Annual Employment Law Litigation Institute, New York State Bar Association Section on Labor and Employment Law (May 1997); "Counsel's Investigation and Retainer Agreements," NELA/NY Publication (1998 Spring Conference); "Trial Motions: Advantages and Considerations," Third Annual Employment Law Litigation Institute, NY State Bar Association Section on Labor and Employment Law, (May 1998); "Wrongful Termination Claims 1998: What Plaintiffs and Defendants Have to Know: Claims for Damage to an Employee's Reputation and Future Employment Opportunities," Practicing Law Institute Publication (1998); "Handling your first Employment Discrimination Case," Practicing Law Institute Publication (1998); "Wrongful Termination Claims 1999, What Plaintiffs and Defendants Have to Know: Claims for Damage to an Employee's Reputation and Future Employment Opportunities," Practicing Law Institute Publication (1999); "Effective Cross-Examination Techniques," National Employment Lawyer's Association (1999); "Comments regarding The Trial Judge and the Difficult Adversary," New York State Trial Lawyer's Association (1999). Mr. Schwartz is a member of the New York State Bar Association, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, the National Employment Lawyers Association, New York State Employment Lawyers Association, the New York County Trial Lawyers Association and Mensa. Mr. Schwartz also holds a Masters Degree in Law from New York University (L.L.M. 1953).
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Trial Strategies that Work for Employment Law
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