Overview

Brendan is an labor and employment attorney who advises private employers, public entities, and educational institutions on high-stakes workplace matters, with a focus on practical risk management and cost-effective dispute resolution. He represents governmental and quasi-public bodies, colleges and universities, nonprofits, and private employers across a range of industries, including healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing, and financial services.

Brendan regularly counsels management on employee discipline and termination, disability and medical-leave compliance, workplace accommodations, discrimination and retaliation claims, whistleblower matters, executive departures, and wage-and-hour exposure. His labor practice includes collective bargaining, grievance arbitration, and representation in administrative proceedings. He is frequently engaged in the early stages of disputes to help clients avoid escalation into litigation when possible, while remaining trial-ready when litigation is unavoidable.

Prior to joining AP&S, Brendan served as counsel to the State of Rhode Island, where he advised on labor and personnel matters. He previously clerked for the Rhode Island Supreme Court Law Clerk Department, where he was assigned to the Dispositive Motion Calendar for Providence and Bristol County.

Brendan earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from Roger Williams University School of Law, where he served as an Assistant Editor of the Law Review and participated in the Honors Program. He also served as a fellow in the Housing Clinic at the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau.

Experience

  • Leads employer-side investigations and pre-litigation response strategies involving discrimination, retaliation, whistleblower allegations, and wage-and-hour exposure, with an emphasis on early risk containment and defensible decision-making.
  • Advises on complex employee discipline, termination strategy, and pre-termination risk assessments, including matters involving disability and medical-leave compliance, workplace accommodations, and return-to-work issues.
  • Represents employers before the Rhode Island Commission for Human Rights and the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, managing intake, fact development, position statements, negotiation strategy, and early-resolution opportunities.
  • Provides CBA interpretation, grievance management, labor-relations strategy, and counsel on unfair labor practice matters, including contract administration, progressive discipline, and arbitration exposure.
  • Advises governmental and quasi-public entities on Project Labor Agreement studies and implementation considerations, including legal risk assessment, stakeholder analysis, and compliance with procurement and labor-relations requirements.
  • Represents public-sector employers in labor grievance hearings, unfair labor practice proceedings, and administrative appeals, consistently achieving favorable outcomes.
  • Conducts wage-and-hour compliance reviews, evaluating exempt-status classifications, overtime practices, remote-work arrangements, pay structures, and policy gaps.
  • Counsels on employment-policy development and modernization, including handbook updates, reporting structures, workplace expectations, and alignment with statutory and regulatory requirements.
  • Successfully resolves complex employment disputes through motion practice, administrative proceedings, and negotiated settlement, including securing summary judgment on behalf of employer clients.
  • Represents employers in regulatory and administrative enforcement matters involving workplace compliance, including responding to agency subpoenas and navigating personnel-related investigations.
  • Supports trial-level victories through post-judgment and appellate advocacy before the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

Credentials

  • Roger Williams University School of Law (J.D. magna cum laude, 2014)
  • Boston University (B.A., 2011)

 

  • Rhode Island
  • Massachusetts
  • U.S. District Court, District of Rhode Island
  • U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

  • Selected as Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch, 2025 and 2026 in the field of Labor and Employment – Management.