Four Skoler, Abbott & Presser Attorneys Honored by Best Lawyers

SPRINGFIELD — Skoler, Abbott & Presser, P.C., an employment-law firm serving the Greater Springfield area, announced that four of the firm’s partners — Ralph Abbott Jr., John Glenn, Timothy Murphy, and Jay Presser — were listed in 2015 edition of Best Lawyers in America. In addition, Murphy was named the Best Lawyers 2015 litigation, labor and employment Lawyer of the Year in Springfield.

Those honored as Lawyer of the Year have received particularly high ratings in surveys by earning a superior level of respect among their peers for their abilities, professionalism, and integrity. Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey. More than 52,000 leading attorneys cast more than 5.5 million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their practice areas. Lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed; therefore, inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor.

• Abbott has been listed in Best Lawyers in the categories of arbitration; employment law, management; labor law, management; and mediation. He has been a partner at the firm since 1975 and is known throughout the legal community for his work representing management in labor relations and employment-related matters, providing employment-related advice to employers, assisting clients in remaining union-free, and representing employers before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Abbott also has numerous credits as an author, editor, and teacher and a record of civic and community involvement. He has been selected by his peers for inclusion in Best Lawyers every year since 1989.

• Glenn has been listed in Best Lawyers in the categories of arbitration; employment law, management; and labor law, management. He has been a partner of the firm since 1979 and has spent his career representing management in labor relations and employment-related matters. In addition to providing employment-related advice to employers, he assists clients in remaining union-free and represents employers before the NLRB. He has extensive experience negotiating collective-bargaining agreements and representing employers at arbitration hearings and before state and federal agencies. Prior to joining Skoler, Abbott & Presser, Glenn was employed by the NLRB in Cincinnati. He has served as an adjunct professor of Labor Law at Western New England University School of Law and is a member of the American Academy of Hospital Attorneys. He has been selected by his peers for inclusion in Best Lawyers every year since 1995.

• Murphy has been listed in Best Lawyers in the categories of employment law, management; labor law, management; and litigation, labor and employment. He joined Skoler Abbott after serving as general counsel to an area labor union and as an assistant district attorney for the Hampden County District Attorney’s Office. His practice includes labor relations and employment litigation, as well as employment counseling. A native of the Springfield area, Murphy is a graduate of the Western New England University School of Law. He has also taught courses in employment law at WNEU. He is a frequent contributor to business and human-resource publications and a contributing author to the Massachusetts Employment Law Letter. He has been selected by his peers for inclusion in Best Lawyers every year since 2013.

• Presser has been listed in Best Lawyers in the categories of employment law, management; labor law, management; and litigation, labor and employment. He has more than 35 years of experience litigating employment cases and has successfully defended employers in civil actions and jury trials and handled cases in all areas of employment law, including discrimination, sexual harassment, wrongful discharge, wage hour, FMLA, ERISA, and defamation. He has won appeals before the Supreme Judicial Court and the First and Second Circuit Courts of Appeals, and represented employers in hundreds of arbitration cases arising under collective-bargaining agreements. He has been selected by his peers for inclusion in Best Lawyers every year since 1991.