Luke J. Cole

Luke J. Cole assists clients with matters involving the full spectrum of employment and labor relations, from negotiating and drafting employment and independent contractor agreements to advising on reductions in force, separation and release agreements and post-employment obligations.

Mr. Cole regularly advises clients across industries and sectors in connection with U.S. and international transactions, including those that involve multinational workforces and collective bargaining agreements. He particularly focuses on drafting non competition, non disclosure and other restrictive covenant agreements that involve compliance with a broad range of federal and state law requirements. Mr. Cole also frequently counsels clients on restrictive covenant enforcement, compliance with laws regarding discrimination, wages and hours and employee classification, and drafting and reviewing employee handbooks and personnel policies.

Examples of Mr. Cole’s representations include:

• Ball Corporation in its pending $5.6 billion sale of its aerospace business to BAE Systems
• JAB in its acquisition of a majority ownership stake in preventive care and pet insurance provider Pumpkin Insurance Services Inc. from Zoetis Inc.
• Iora Health, Inc. in its acquisition by 1Life Healthcare, Inc.
• PPL Corporation in its $3.8 billion acquisition of The Narragansett Electric Company, the largest electric and gas utility in Rhode Island
• Pandion Therapeutics in its $1.85 billion acquisition by a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc.
• Huron Consulting Group in its acquisitions of Unico Solution, an IT service management company, and ForceIQ, a provider of a customer relationship management platform
• GS Acquisitions Holdings Corp., a special purpose acquisition company, in its $5.3 billion acquisition of Vertiv Holdings LLC, a data center equipment and service provider
• a venture capital firm that invests in early career professional athletes in an investigation into potential misappropriation of confidential information by former employees who went to work for a competitor
• the New York Mets baseball club in its successful salary arbitration against player J.D. Davis, the first salary arbitration win for the Mets in the team’s history

Mr. Cole’s pro bono representations also focus on employment law, including advising not-for-profit organizations on employment agreements, workplace policies and contested employment matters filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.