Barbara S. Mehlsack

New York Lawyer

Phone: 212-269-2500
Fax: 212-269-2540
E-mail: BMehlsack@gkllaw.com

Barbara is an experienced labor, employment and employee benefits attorney, whose unusual combination of private sector, governmental and managerial experience makes her an effective advocate for her clients in all arenas, whether in the courtroom or at the negotiating table.   She leads the firm’s employment and labor litigation practice, representing our international and local union clients in complex federal cases.  She is a passionate advocate for individuals seeking redress in the courts and administrative agencies in employment discrimination, employee benefits, wrongful termination and wage an hour cases.  She has managed hundreds of representation cases for our union clients before the National Labor Relations Board and brought and defended unfair labor practice charges.   Barbara has a special expertise representing labor unions and employee benefit funds in employer bankruptcy proceedings.

Barbara brings both a strategic and practical approach to serving our clients, as a litigator and in negotiating agreements, whether they are individual employment and severance agreements or union contracts. She advises small businesses on employment best practices, designing employment manuals and providing advice and counsel on compliance with the full range of employment laws.  Her management experience in government and the private sector means she understands the practical day to day responsibilities of managing a business. 

Barbara is known and respected by adversaries, colleagues and clients alike for her fierce devotion to her clients needs, her creativity and dogged persistence as a litigator. 

Barbara combines extensive private sector experience with a strong record in government affairs in both the executive and legislative branches.  Prior to joining the firm, she served as a Deputy Comptroller of the City of New York, running a department of over 100 employees, was a senior labor and regulatory attorney at NYNEX, and served as chief counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Pension and Welfare Benefits Task Force, where she was one of the staff architects of MPAA, the Multi-employer Pension Plan Amendments Act. 

Barbara graduated, cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, from City College and received her J.D. with honors from Rutgers University School of Law. She is admitted in the federal district courts for the Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of New York and the District of Connecticut and is a member of the AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee and the Labor and Employment Committees of the ABA and the New York State Bar Association. Barbara is also active in school and community affairs.  She is the treasurer of her daughter’s soccer team and a former member of the Board of Directors of the Westside Soccer League.  She is an avid skier.

Practice Areas

• Labor and Employment Law
• Employee Benefits Law
• Litigation
• Government Relations Law
• General Practice

Admissions

• New York, 1976
• U.S. District Court, Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of New York, District of Connecticut.
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit

Education

• Rutgers University School of Law, J.D., with honors, 1975
• City College of New York, B.A., Phi Beta Kappa, cum laude

Memberships

• New York State Bar Association (Member, Labor and Employment Section, Employee Benefits Committee)
• American Bar Association (Member, Labor and Employment Committee)

Biography

• Partner  (2004 to present), Senior Associate (1997-2004) Gorlick Kravitz & Listhaus, P.C.
• The Law Offices of Barbara S. Mehlsack, New York NY 1994-1997
• Deputy Comptroller, Office of the Comptroller, City of New York, 1990-1994
• HR/Regulatory Counsel, NYNEX Corporation, 1985-1990
• Labor/ERISA Attorney, Cohen, Weiss & Simon, 1981-1985
• Chief Counsel and Staff Director, U.S. Congress, House of Representatives Pension Welfare Benefits Task Force, 1978-1980
• Labor/ERISA Attorney, Cohen, Glickstein, Lurie, et al, 1975-1978

Born

• New York, New York