Charles S. Birenbaum, Partner

Charles Birenbaum is a labor and employment relations partner and managing partner of Winston & Strawn’s San Francisco office. He has experience in administrative, judicial, and arbitration litigation, collective bargaining, and NLRB practice, and advises employers on labor matters related to mergers, acquisitions, sales, reorganizations, consolidations, outsourcing, temporary employment, subcontracting, and project development.

Mr. Birenbaum represents management clients in federal and state litigation and administrative practice. His experience includes cutting-edge representation of power generators in employment law matters nationally; appellate and trial court precedents for employers in temporary, technical, and staffing services; and appellate, trial court, and legislative testimony for key precedents in the mining industry.

Mr. Birenbaum’s trial experience includes race harassment cases in U.S. district court, noncompetition matters in California Superior Court under Cal. B&P Code 17200 et seq., and unfair labor practice matters.

He has extensive NLRB experience throughout the United States, including representative cases for various bargaining units. He also has considerable experience in union “greenmail” activities before federal, state, and local government entities such as the California Energy Commission, Environmental Protection Agency, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration, as well as county and municipal councils, boards, and departments. In addition, Mr. Birenbaum has extensive experience handling labor disputes of all kinds, including strikes, jurisdictional disputes, and picketing.

Mr. Birenbaum has counseled and represented national construction and engineering firms and energy industry employers in collective bargaining and arbitration matters. For example, he recently negotiated contracts with the Machinists Union for two steel plant bargaining units; negotiated four project agreements for $1.2 billion in power plant construction; and negotiated a greenfield contract for a health care chair with San Francisco Union Local 399. He defeated the Teamsters in an NLRB election at a fiberglass manufacturing facility, and obtained victories in arbitration and unfair labor practice cases involving unlawful picketing, employee discharges from employment, and other issues.

Mr. Birenbaum’s industry-wide representation has included trade association litigation and appellate work, legislative testimony, and administrative record-making and advocacy for the following industries: energy, mining, temporary/technical/staff services, construction, and health care. He also is active in corporate planning and strategy for development, particularly for energy and health care employers.

Honors and Awards

Mr. Birenbaum was honored in the 2008 Chambers USA directory and in the peer rankings-based 2007 edition of The Best Lawyers in America for labor and employment law. He also was honored in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 as a Northern California Super Lawyer, a distinction reserved for attorneys ranked in the top 5 percent in the state. In 2008, he was listed as a Super Lawyer Corporate Counsel Edition. 

Activities

Mr. Birenbaum is the managing partner of the Winston & Strawn’s San Francisco office. He also is a member of the firm’s Executive Committee and the Partner Compensation Committee.

Mr. Birenbaum is a member of the American Bar Association, the State Bar of California, the Bar Association of San Francisco, and the advisory council of the American Arbitration Association. He is a member of the board of the Northern California Service League, and an arbitrator/mediator for the American Arbitration Association. He also serves on the Northern California Advisory Board for Employment Law panel.  He is a member of the Georgetown Law Center’s National Law Alumni Board. Mr. Birenbaum previously served as president of the Lawyers Club of San Francisco and was an adjunct professor at the Santa Clara University Law School.

Education

Speeches and Publications

Mr. Birenbaum has published articles addressing a variety of labor and employment issues in both the public and private sectors, and has lectured at seminars, workshops, and continuing education programs.

Mr. Birenbaum’s speaking engagements from 1999-2006 include: “Greenmail Perspectives,”  Associated Builders and Contractors’ 2006 Legislative Conference (Sacramento, CA); “Labor and Employment Strategies for Electrical Power Generators During Turbulent Times,” 13th Annual Independent Power Human Resources Association Conference; “Proactive Labor Strategies to Site, Construct and Operate New Power Projects in a Volatile Market,” Power Gen Conference and Exhibition; “Human Resources Challenges Involved in the Sale or Spin-Off of Generation, Transmission and Distribution Assets,” Edison Electric Institute; “Responses to Labor Turmoil:  Planning in a Union-Competitive Environment,” CONSORTA Annual Conference (Chicago); “Whose Employee Are You, Anyway? Microsoft and Other Contingent Workforce Issues,” Los Angeles County Bar Association, Labor and Employment Law Symposium; and “Application of Labor Law & Labor Law Strategies to Power Programs After Deregulation,” Power-Gen International ‘99.

Most recently, Mr. Birenbaum moderated a panel on Jan. 14, 2009 titled “Ethical Issues When In-House Counsel Change Companies,” at the Hard-To-Find CLE Credits Program, which was sponsored by the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel. He also moderated a panel on work force strategies and related employment issues at the Argyle 2007 Human Capital Leadership Forum with participants from MetLife, IBM, and Wachovia in October 2007 and addressed the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act in a speech before the National Park Hospitality Association at its annual meeting in Washington, D.C. in March 2007.

He is the co-author of: “Seeking: Permanent Solutions for Temporary Workers,” Employment Law, September 1998; “The Alternative Workforce:  Risks and Opportunities for American Businesses,” The Corporate Analyst, November 1997; “Supreme Court Decision Explains How the Impact of Section 510 of ERISA Can Be Avoided When a Staffing Company Takes Over an Existing Workforce,” The Voice of the Temporary Industry, California Association of Temporary and Staffing Services, August 1997; “Temporary Service, Staffing Companies and Their Customers:  Are They Joint Employers or Not?,” The Voice, An Industry Bulletin, California Association of Temporary Services, No. 2, 1995.  He is the author of: “Construction Labor Law Issues of the 1990s,” Chapter 11, Construction Contractor’s Handbook of Business and Law, pp. 279-321, Wiley Law Publications, 1992; “Employee Screening Techniques:  Advantages and Pitfalls,” Chapter 6, Proceedings of New York University 44th Annual National Conference on Labor, pp. 131-175, New York University, 1991; “Attorney or Persuader:  Analysis of New Law Under The LMRDA,” San Francisco Attorney Magazine, February 1989; and “Joint Employer Exemptions Under The National Labor Relations Act:  Will The Real NLRB Please Stand Up,” 24 Santa Clara Law Review 371 (Spring 1984).