Mr. Byergo is the managing shareholder of the Seattle office and chair of the firm’s national collective bargaining practice subgroup. He has more than 25 years of experience representing and advising management in labor and employment matters, and has been honored by publications such as Best Lawyers, Chambers USA, and Super Lawyers.
Mr. Byergo handles a full range of traditional labor relations matters, including collective bargaining and strike preparation, representation campaigns, corporate campaigns, and labor arbitration and unfair labor practice proceedings. His practice is national in scope and he has handled representation and unfair labor practice matters arising in two-thirds of NLRB’s Regional Offices. His experience includes representing management in over 200 labor arbitrations, covering issues ranging from strike and bargaining disputes, to subcontracting and mass layoffs, to discipline and discharge cases. He has served as chief negotiator for management in scores of collective bargaining negotiations, and successfully advised management in union representation campaigns covering as many as 1800 employees in locations from Alaska to the Virgin Islands.
Mr. Byergo is also a senior trial lawyer and maintains an active employment litigation docket. Recent successes include obtaining defense verdicts in jury trials alleging sex, race, disability and retaliation claims; appellate decisions affirming summary judgment in sex harassment, disability, ERISA and USERRA claims; and summary judgment in a variety of race, sex, age, and disability discrimination, harassment, and retaliation claims under Title VII, the ADA, and the ADEA. He also has extensive experience successfully representing employers in executive termination, non-compete and unfair competition disputes.
Mr. Byergo began his legal career in Chicago, and then served in lead labor relations and legal roles for a national retailer and a national telecommunications company. He previously practiced in our firm’s Kansas City office which he helped open in 2005, and continues to be available to serve a select group of clients in the region.
