Mark W. Lerner has joined Mintz’s New York office as a Member of the firm.  Mark will serve as the Chair of the Employment Litigation Practice within the firm’s Employment group. Mark is a preeminent trial lawyer and employment attorney who leads cases and counsels clients on complex employment issues. His practice focuses on executive and private equity compensation disputes; trade secret and restrictive covenant disputes; discrimination and harassment litigation; high-stakes internal investigations; and representing institutions in all types of employment-related litigation. Mark is an award-winning litigator known for his trusted client counsel and leading a team of lawyers to excellence and great results. 

“Mark’s arrival is significant for Mintz and our clients,” said Bob Bodian, Managing Member at Mintz. “As we continue to grow and take on more institutional clients and sophisticated work, Mark brings a proven track record to our employment litigation capabilities. His deep trial experience and success leading complex multimillion dollar disputes, including many in the private equity space, further propels our growth strategy and reinforces our position as a litigation powerhouse, in the employment space and elsewhere.”

Mark is a trusted counselor in the boardroom and a skillful and successful trial attorney in the courtroom. He represents clients across a range of industries, including private equity, financial services, hedge funds, real estate, health care, energy, media, and apparel, among others. He has been lead counsel in litigation for clients including Douglas Elliman Real Estate, the New York Post, Northwell Health, XPO Logistics, Phillips-Van Heusen, Ryan Serhant and SERHANT., Saw Mill Capital, Rabobank International, and MacKay Shields. 

“Mark is a top-tier, first-chair trial lawyer who has represented clients in their most challenging and significant employment matters for more than two decades,” said Michael Arnold, Chair of the Employment Practice at Mintz. He makes our nationally recognized Employment Practice even more formidable, will grow out our Employment Litigation team, and we are thrilled to welcome him to the firm.”

Along with providing strategic guidance on employment law and high-stakes disputes, Mark first-chairs cases in federal and state courts and arbitration involving a broad spectrum of employment issues. He handles matters involving executive compensation disputes (including among Private Equity partners), non-competition agreements, employee raiding and lift-outs, discrimination claims, harassment claims, theft of company information, terminations, layoffs, and wage and hour actions. 

“Mintz’s litigation breadth and multidisciplinary expertise make Mintz an ideal platform for me to service my clients in their most important disputes as well as holistically,” said Mark W. Lerner. “I look forward to collaborating with my new colleagues to further establish Mintz’s employment litigation capabilities and presence in North America, and to achieve excellent outcomes for our clients’ most significant employment matters.”

Prior to joining Mintz, Mark was Chair of the Employment Practices and Litigation group at Kasowitz Benson Torres. Under his leadership, his department was recognized by the New York Law Journal as Employment Practice of the Year in 2019. Mark has received extensive accolades for his individual work as well, including multiple-year banded rankings from Chambers USA, Top 50 Litigator by Benchmark Litigation, Leading Corporate Employment Lawyers by Lawdragon, Legal 500 United States, the National Law Journal, and Law360.  Earlier, he served as a Federal Prosecutor in the US Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York (E.D.N.Y.).  He also clerked for Federal Judge I. Leo Glasser. Mark graduated from Stanford Law School, where he was a member of the Stanford Law Review, and earned his bachelor’s degree from Amherst College, magna cum laude.

About Mintz

Mintz is a litigation powerhouse and business accelerator serving leaders in life sciences, private equity, energy, and technology. The world’s most innovative companies trust Mintz to provide expert advice, protect and monetize their IP, negotiate deals, source financing, and solve complex legal challenges. The firm has over 600 attorneys across offices in Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Washington, DC, San Francisco, San Diego, and Toronto.