To recognize excellence among law school students writing in the area of labor and employment law; and to cultivate the relationship between the Section and future labor and employment practitioners.
Dr. Emanuel Stein enjoyed an enviable national reputation as an outstanding labor arbitrator for more than 40 years and was a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators. Throughout his career he held to the highest ethical and professional standards, strongly believing that the parties wanted the arbitrator to “Call them as you see them, and let the chips fall where they may.”
He served as a public member of the Regional War Labor Board in New York during World War II and the Wage Stabilization Board during the Korean Conflict. Dr. Stein was appointed by President Kennedy to investigate the dispute between Trans World Airlines and its navigators and to a panel to resolve a longshoremen’s strike on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. He also served on various state panels, including one that investigated conditions at New York’s race tracks. He was on the panels of the American Arbitration Association, and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, as well as those of New York and New Jersey.
Dr. Stein’s first love, however, was for the classroom and for teaching a freshman economics course each semester. He taught at New York University, including its Law School, for 44 years, was Chair of its Economics Department from 1955-1967 and Executive Director of the Institute of Labor and Social Security from 1948-1962. He was honored by NYU with the title of Professor of Humanities. Popular with his students, he was an early recipient of the Alumni Federation’s “Great Teacher Award.”
Kenneth Stein, Dr. Emanuel Stein’s son, was an outstanding labor and employment lawyer in his own right until his untimely passing at the age of 65 in 2009. He was a name partner in Benetar, Isaacs, Bernstein, Schair & Stein, and in 2004 assumed the role of Managing Partner of the New York City office of Ford Harrison, which he helped open. An active member of the American, New York State and New York County Bar Associations, an author and columnist, and a highly respected leader in his firm (“a lawyer’s lawyer “), Kenneth Stein was honored with listings in “The Best Lawyers in America” and “Who’s Who in American Law.”
Presented by: Labor and Employment Law Section
Contact: Emily Kurtzner
Award Criteria: Articles must be original from the applicant. Submissions should focus on any timely, compelling aspect of labor and employment law. Only one submission per student.
All articles are to be submitted in the following format: a) submitted by email to [email protected]; b) double spaced; c) on 8-1/2 inch by 11 inch paper, 1 inch margins; d) no longer than 20 pages (exclusive of endnotes); e) citations are to conform to “A Uniform System of Citation” (The Bluebook).
If published by the Section, all articles submitted for the competition become the property of the Labor and Employment Law Section and the New York State Bar Association. No article submitted may be published in any journal or periodical other than the “New York State Bar Journal”, or the “Labor and Employment Law Section Newsletter”, until after announcement of the winner of this competition in January.
Students should include a cover letter with the entry stating your name, mailing address and phone number (both school and permanent), name of your school and year of graduation. Do not include your name or personal information on your paper.
Prize Awarded: First Place: $3,000 and publication in Section newsletter; Second Place: $2,000; Third Place: $1,000.
Dr. Emanuel Stein and Kenneth D. Stein Memorial Writing Competition
New York State Bar Association Labor and Employment Law Section
First Place: Brendan Mohan: Beyond The Ban: One Major Challenge Facing the FTC Non-Compete Rule
Second Place: Seth Goldstein: Rigid Rideshares and Driver Monitoring
Third Place: Isaac Thuesen: The Evolution and Role of the NLRB General Counsel
Brendan Mohan
Brendan Mohan is a 3rd-year JD Candidate at the University of Akron, School of Law. Brendan is heavily involved within his law school; In addition to being an Honors Scholar, he serves as a production editor for Akron Law Review, the President of Akron Law’s Student Federal Bar Association Chapter, the Community Outreach Chair for Akron Law’s Black Law Student Association, and is a former member of Akron Law’s Trial Team and Moot Court Honor Society. Outside of Akron Law, he is involved in several national organizations. Brendan currently sits as the Associate Chair of the Law Student Division of the Federal Bar Association where he works with other Federal Bar leaders, judges, and attorneys around the nation to promote student involvement in federal law. For his writing, Mr. Mohan has received several awards and publications. He was the recipient of the 2023 Alvin D. Lurie Memorial Award, with his winning paper being published by The American College of Employee Benefits Counsel and the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Journal of Labor & Employment Law. He also has scholarships published through William’s Honor College and the Federal Bar Association. After graduating from Akron Law this Spring, Brendan will join the Legal Department at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company as its 2024 Legal Fellow.
Seth Goldstein
Seth Goldstein is a third-year law student at St. John’s University School of Law. During his time in law school, Seth has served as a staff member of the St. John’s Law Review, where his Note Rigid Rideshares and the Driver Flexibility Myth, will be published in a forthcoming edition. Additionally, he is the President of the Labor Relations and Employment Law Society, is a Research Assistant to Professor Miriam Cherry, and is a Teaching Assistant and tutor for many courses, including Legal Writing and Analysis, Intro to U.S. Law and Legal Systems, and Applied Legal Analysis. Seth is additionally a pro bono scholar and will be working with the St. John’s Child Advocacy Center after taking the February 2024 bar exam. Prior to law school, Seth attended the Cornell University School of Industrial Relations and then worked for six years in healthcare software, including both a domestic placement and a three-year placement in Singapore. After graduating from law school this summer, he will join the New York office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meager, & Flom LLP.
Isaac Thuesen
Isaac Thuesen is 3L at Indiana University Maurer School of Law. He is passionate about labor and employment law and has interned for the EEOC, NLRB, and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). Concurrently with his JD, he is earning a Master in Public Affairs from the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University. He earned his bachelor’s from Indiana University, Bloomington, in 2020.