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Jack Gearan has nearly 20 years of experience representing companies and C-suite management in complex litigation matters, major corporate transactions, and intricate compliance and regulatory challenges. A shareholder in the Boston office of Greenberg Traurig, LLP and the firm’s Labor & Employment practice, Jack regularly provides counsel to senior management and human resource personnel on various aspects of employment law compliance matters, such as employee relations, wage and hour law, trade secret, non-compete, restrictive covenant, leave of absence, fair employment practice and workplace accommodation law, along with advising on hiring, employee retention and termination strategies. Clients frequently turn to Jack to conduct outside independent investigations of sensitive personnel issues or threatened legal actions. 

Jack has broad and deep experience counseling management in myriad industries, including in the retail, hospitality, restaurant, pharmaceutical, life sciences, health care, manufacturing, transportation, trucking, construction, software as a service, financial services and higher education sectors. Jack writes and speaks regularly on the ever changing employment law and regulatory landscape, and serves on the Board of Editors for the Boston Bar Association (BBA)’s publication, the Boston Bar Journal.

As part of his employment law compliance advisory work, Jack counsels companies and private equity firms in connection with various corporate transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, investments, hiring, restructuring, and reductions in force.

Always seeking to resolve matters when possible through practical and creative thinking, Jack remains ready and willing to litigate aggressively where necessary. Jack has tried cases in court and arbitration, and has argued in appellate courts.

Concentrations

  • Labor & Employment
  • Litigation
  • Retail
  • Food, Beverage & Agribusiness
  • Higher Education
  • Corporate transactions

Capabilities

Experience

  • Obtained on behalf of various middle market as well as large public and privately-held employers multiple findings for lack of probable cause before the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD).
  • Negotiated settlements on behalf of multiple clients with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Fair Labor Division and United States Department of Labor.
  • Conducted numerous internal investigations involving claims of discrimination and/or hostile work environment for large companies and non-profit organizations including colleges and universities.
  • Advised corporate and private equity partners in connection with due diligence related to complex corporate acquisitions and investments.
  • Member of team which won partial motion to dismiss in federal court for publicly-traded waste disposal company on various ERISA claims leading to settlement prior to trial on remaining claims.
  • Member of team that achieved settlement on behalf of large national retail chain in class and collective action based upon FLSA and state wage and hour claims.
  • Member of trial and expert witness team that obtained a complete defense verdict following a two-week trial in July 2021 in a multimillion-dollar action involving a cardiovascular intravascular device against client, a medical device manufacturer of numerous life-saving devices and products.
  • First-chaired arbitration successfully defending world leading entertaining company against claims of workplace retaliation.
  • Member of team that represented Fortune 50 company in major Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) internal compliance review and program enhancement, including conducting risk assessments, drafting anti-corruption policies and procedures, implementation of anti-corruption financial controls, and monitoring and assessing compliance program, including extensive travel to India.
  • Obtained summary judgment in federal court (D. Mass) on behalf of leading national provider of healthcare services to state and local government agencies in lawsuit by former employee alleging disability discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
  • Successfully argued and obtained summary judgment ruling dismissing entire action in Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Kings on behalf of major telecommunications provider. Ruling on all counts was achieved after full discovery on claims for disability discrimination, failure to accommodate and retaliation under the very strict and pro-employee New York City Human Rights law.
  • Achieved summary judgment ruling in Massachusetts state court on all claims on behalf of large Massachusetts developer in lawsuit by residents seeking to enjoin significant development and construction project in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
  • Marianne J. Bowler, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

Recognition & Leadership

  • Listed, The Best Lawyers in America, 2021-2025
    • Employment Law - Management, 2021-2025
    • Litigation - Labor and Employment, 2023-2025
  • Listed, Boston magazine, "Top Lawyers - Labor & Employment," 2022-2024
  • Listed, Super Lawyers magazine, Massachusetts Super Lawyers, 2022-2024
    • "Rising Stars," 2013-2018, 2021
  • Team Member, a Law360 “Product Liability Practice Group of the Year,” 2021-2022
  • Listed, The Legal 500 United States, Labor and Employment - Labor and Employment Disputes (Including Collective Actions) - Defense, 2019
  • Team Member, a Law360 "Employment Practice Group of the Year," 2013
  • Board of Editors, Boston Bar Association’s Boston Bar Journal, 2023-Present
  • Board Member, MetroWest Human Resource Management Association, 2023-Present
  • Committee Chairman, Boston, Georgetown University Alumni Admissions Program
  • Member, Boston Bar Association
  • Member, Labor & Employment Steering Committee, 2020-2023

Credentials

Education
  • J.D., cum laude, Suffolk University Law School
    • Comment Editor, Suffolk University Law Review
    • Recipient, "Best Case Note," Suffolk University Law Review
    • Winner, Third Year Day / Fourth Year Evening Trial Competition
    • Winner, J. Braxton Craven Constitutional Law Moot Court Competition, National Champion
  • B.A., Government, Georgetown University
Admissions
  • Massachusetts
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin

Related Capabilities

Labor & Employment Litigation Wage & Hour Class and Collective Litigation Employment Litigation & Trials Workplace Compliance & Counseling Labor & Employment Due Diligence Food, Beverage & Agribusiness Retail Education