Mark A. de Bernardo is a Partner in the Washington, DC Region Office of Jackson Lewis, a preeminent labor and employment law firm with more than 500 employment lawyers in 41 offices. He concentrates his practice on employment litigation and counseling and workplace drug-testing issues, but also represents employers on senior executive personnel actions, labor-management relations, legislative and regulatory issues, and alternative dispute resolution. He also has extensive experience in the management of employment-related class actions.

Mr. de Bernardo has testified more than 40 times before Congress and various federal and state regulatory agencies and legislative committees on employment and labor law issues. He has submitted 11 amici curiae briefs to the United States Supreme Court, and nearly 30 amici briefs overall to various courts on behalf of trade association, business coalition, and corporate clients. He has represented more than 30 Fortune 200 corporations; five federal executive branch agencies; the states of Kansas, Louisiana, and California; the governments of Japan, Spain, and the Bahamas; and nearly 20 national trade associations. He was the founder (in 1989), and is the Executive Director of the Institute for a Drug-Free Workplace, a national coalition dedicated to promoting and preserving the rights of employers and employees in effective substance-abuse-prevention programs, and is the President of the Foundation for Drug Education and Awareness. He is the author of four state drug-testing laws, and the only workplace drug-testing law endorsed by the President’s Commission on Model State Drug Laws.

Mr. de Bernardo serves as the Executive Director and President of the Council for Employment Law Equity, a national coalition advocating fair and appropriate policy-making in the employment area. Most recently, Mr. de Bernardo testified in Congress on behalf of the CELE on arbitration, criminal-background checks, and civil rights issues in 2008. Mr. de Bernardo is the Practice Leader for the Jackson Lewis Practice Group on ADR. Besides drafting ADR policies, auditing ADR programs, and counseling employers on ADR and arbitration issues, he also plays a significant role in the national policy consideration of these issues. He is the author or co-author of 18 books on employment and labor law topics. He is a frequent speaker at conferences, and has appeared on the Today Show, Good Morning America, Crossfire, Larry King Live, and the ABC, CBS, and NBC evening news.