Joseph W. Ambash,Managing Partner of the Boston office of FisherPhillips, concentrates his practice in the area of labor and employment law. A long-time NACUA member and frequent speaker, Joe is an experienced trial attorney, practicing before the National Labor Relations Board and state and federal courts. He has represented both public and private universities in labor and employment matters and collective bargaining for decades, and was counsel for Brown University in the 2004 decision which established that private-sector graduate students are not employees within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. He also represented New Process Steel in the landmark Supreme Court decision holding that the NLRB must consist of three members to render valid decisions.
Walter C. Hunter is a Shareholder at Littler Mendelson, PC, where he practices labor and employment law and chairs the Firm's higher education practice group. He came to Littler Mendelson from Brown University, where he served as Vice President of Administration for eight years. Walter is well known for his expertise in higher education traditional labor law matters, is a frequent speaker at conferences and NACUA events and has testified in Washington before joint subcommittees of Congress as an expert on NLRB issues affecting higher education. At various times during his tenure in his Brown he supervised the University's operations in human resources, labor relations, facilities management, real estate, risk management, public safety, and other administrative departments. He was one of the principal authors of the amicus brief filed with the NLRB on behalf of the NCAA regarding unionization of student athletes and co-led Brown’s successful response to the union campaign involving its graduate students.