January 26, 2011
PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS BOARD CHAIR JEROME
LEFKOWITZ RECEIVES STATE BAR’S EXCELLENCE IN PUBLIC SERVICE
AWARD
Lefkowitz honored for exemplary 52-year legal
career including drafting Taylor Law
NEW YORK—Jerome Lefkowitz of Albany, chair of the Public
Employment Relations Board (PERB), was honored with the Excellence in
Public Service Award from the New York State Bar Association on January
25 during its Annual Meeting at the Hilton New York in Manhattan. The
award, sponsored by the State Bar’s Committee on Attorneys in
Public Service, recognizes individuals in government who demonstrate a
“higher calling” through an extraordinary commitment to
service, honor and integrity in the public sector. Lefkowitz is one of
three individuals receiving the award.
The committee honored Lefkowitz for his extraordinary 52-year
legal career and his lasting legacy that includes his work on drafting
the landmark Taylor Law that granted public employees the right to
collective bargaining in 1967. He has served as PERB chair since 2007.
Today, PERB administers both public and private collective bargaining
laws.
“This year’s recipients of the Excellence in Public
Service Awards have each contributed to advancing the public interest of
New Yorkers in different and important ways. Jerome Lefkowitz forever
transformed New York’s labor landscape by helping write the Taylor
Law giving public employees the right to collectively bargain with
management,” said State Bar President Stephen P. Younger of New
York (Patterson, Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP). “The State Bar is
proud to recognize all the recipients for their outstanding work. I
congratulate Jerome Lefkowitz for receiving this award.”
“From his early years working on labor law matters in the
private sector to his current outstanding service as chair of the Public
Employment Relations Board, Jerome Lefkowitz has had a tremendous impact
on the rights of working New Yorkers. Throughout his five decades of
public service, he has made many valuable contributions that have
greatly benefited both New York taxpayers and employees,” said
Committee Chair Hon. Peter S. Loomis of Albany (Retired, New York State
Department of Transportation). “We are delighted to recognize his
exemplary legal career and effectiveness as a public service
leader.”
A graduate of New York University and Columbia School of Law,
Lefkowitz began his career in 1958 as an assistant attorney general,
primarily handling private sector labor law appeals. He next served as
counsel to the New York State Department of Labor, and later as its
Deputy Industrial Commissioner. In those positions, he helped draft
various amendments to New York’s private sector collective
bargaining law and handled other legal issues involving the private
sector. It was during this time that Lefkowitz had a lead role in
drafting the Taylor Law.
Following enactment of the Taylor Law, Lefkowitz served as deputy
chairman to the Public Employment Relations Board for 20 years, where he
drafted agency decisions resolving public sector disputes. In 1987, he
became deputy counsel to the Civil Service Employees Association, a
position he also held for 20 years.
Other recipients of the 2011 Excellence in Public Service Award are
Hon. Norman Goodman of New York, county clerk of New York County, and
Frederick P. Schaffer of New York, general counsel and senior vice
chancellor for legal affairs at the City University of New York.
Founded in 1876, the 77,000-member New York State Bar Association is
the official statewide organization of lawyers in New York and the
largest voluntary state bar association in the nation. The State
Bar’s programs and activities have continuously served the public
and improved the justice system for 135 years.
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