Rick Grimaldi
Partner
Overview
Rick Grimaldi draws on a diverse background in labor, government relations, and the media to help businesses become both more successful organizations and better employers.
As co-chair of the firm’s Government Relations and Crisis Communications and Strategy practice groups, he partners with clients to achieve labor and employment related goals by combining sound, practical, strategic advice with an understanding that business decisions are never made in a vacuum. He has been involved in a number of high-profile matters of significance to his clients.
Rick is also a sought-after speaker who travels the country helping companies and organizations understand the ever-changing work environment, various employment issues, and how to blend diverse employee populations for maximum effectiveness. He has long been on the front lines of advocating before state and local legislative bodies to develop beneficial laws and policies and on working with clients to navigate potentially damaging situations while maintaining positive reputations. This, combined with his years practicing labor law, makes him uniquely qualified to assist companies as they face an ever changing and challenging legal and policy landscape.
Having spent his career defending the interests of businesses around the world in labor relations matters, Rick is ideally suited to help clients maintain good positive relationships with their employees. He is particularly skilled at helping to foresee and avert troublesome situations, negotiating collective bargaining agreements, and representing employers’ interests during union campaigns. He has achieved positive results defending businesses in major discrimination litigation, union campaigns, collective bargaining and arbitrations. Just as importantly, his ability to devise creative solutions around key provisions such as leaves and performance metrics has sparked successful outcomes that have improved productivity and saved clients significant sums of money.
Rick also draws on his experience serving the citizens of Pennsylvania as Deputy General Counsel to Governor Tom Ridge and Chief Counsel of the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry and his lengthy tenure in the media to advocate for clients in front of government agencies, legislative and regulatory bodies, as the co-chair of the Fisher Phillips Government Relations Group, as well as working with them to prepare for and navigate crisis situations that may arise from government investigations, workplace injuries, litigation, or labor strife.
He has been named to Best Lawyers in America and is internationally recognized as an outstanding trainer and presenter by both clients and trade associations. He works closely with senior executives and management teams to provide hands-on and practical leadership and workplace training.
Rick has written and published extensively. He is the author of FLEX: A Leader’s Guide to Staying Nimble and Mastering Transformative Change in the Workplace (Wiley, 2021), an influential guidebook for corporate executives, and the forthcoming, Age Appropriate: How to Leverage a Multi-Generational Workforce and Win the Market.