Attorney Biography

Nicholas J. Enoch

Nicholas J. Enoch is a partner with Lubin & Enoch, P.C., specializing in complex labor and employment law matters.
He routinely appears before arbitrators as well as all courts and administrative agencies in matters arising under traditional (e.g., National Labor Relations Act, Railway Labor Act, Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act) and non-traditional labor and employment law. In addition to having represented virtually every major labor organization in the United States and dozens of smaller labor organizations, Mr. Enoch frequently advises and represents clients in the areas of employment discrimination, wrongful discharge, wage and hour litigation and public utility regulation.

Mr. Enoch has received Martindale-Hubbell’s highest attorney rating of "AV".

EDUCATION

• The University of Dayton (J.D., M.B.A., 1995)
• The Pennsylvania State University (B.A., Labor Studies with minors in Business and History, 1991)

STATE BAR ADMISSIONS

• Arizona
• Colorado
• Texas

FEDERAL COURT ADMISSIONS

• U.S. Supreme Court
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit
• U.S. District Court, District of Arizona
• U.S. District Court, District of Colorado
• U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas
• U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas
• U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee (1996-)

• Economic, Workplace, and Environmental Regulation Issue Group

• Labor and Employment Law Section
• ADR Section
• Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources Section
• Transportation and Transportation Security Law Section

• Board of Directors (2008-), Arizona Chapter
• Rocky Mountain Chapter
• Greater Houston Chapter
• Nittany Chapter
• Airline Industry Council
• Utilities Industry Council
• Labor Unions/Labor Studies Section
• Dispute Resolution Section

• Arizona Chapter
• Texas Chapter

• Labor and Employment Law Section including, inter alia, CLE Committee (2009-)
• ADR Section
• Administrative Law Section
• Monitor, Member Assistance Committee (1998 – 2008)
• Monitor, Law Office Management Assistance Program (2000 – 2008)

• Employment Law Section
• Litigation Section

• Labor and Employment Law Section
• ADR Section
• Natural Resources and Energy Law Section
• Colorado Bar Association Civil Rights Committee

• Labor and Employment Law Section
• ADR Section
• Aviation Law Section
• Public Utility Law Section

• Labor and Employment Law Section
• ADR Section

REPRESENTATIVE ENGAGEMENTS

• Argued the constitutionality of the State’s charter school system before the Arizona Supreme Court.
• Represented an airline pilot union in a public hearing before the National Transportation Safety Board in a matter involving a fatal plane accident in Illinois.
• Successfully defended union, its officers and numerous members of the public in a tort action brought against them by an employer based on alleged acts of trespass and violence perpetrated during a picket at the employer’s corporate headquarters.
• Achieved $9 million settlement in an age discrimination lawsuit brought by a group of older workers against a large Arizona corporation.
• Successfully represented labor organization in repeated investigations and inquiries by the U.S. Department of Labor addressing union’s and union officers’ finances and election practices.
• Successfully represented Arizona labor organizations sued in federal court in Nevada based on allegedly defamatory comments published on the Union’s website and in its membership magazine.
• Successfully defended injunction action and grievance brought against a professional football player by his team alleging, inter alia, that the player had violated his contract by playing for another team in a rival football league.
• Briefed and argued many federal, state and administrative matters that resulted in publicly available opinions, including:

• N. Valley Emergency Specialists, L.L.C. v. Santana, 208 Ariz. 301, 93 P.3d 501 (2004) (successfully argued that all employer and employee employment agreements are exempt from the provisions of Arizona’s arbitration act).
• Hoffman v. Kramer, 185 F.Supp.2d 700 (S.D. Tex. 2002), affirmed, 362 F.3d 308 (5th Cir. 2004) (successfully argued that a Union officers’ routine operating decisions and details of internal office administration, including decision to pay for employee's graduate studies, giving employees extra time off, shredding union documents, alleged poor attendance, and sloth, and sending letters to union members instead of using union newsletter, did not breach fiduciary duties so as to provide good cause for suit by union member under LMRDA).
• McDonnell v. Southwest Airlines Co., 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 19852 (9th Cir. 2008) (successfully defeated attempt by the Tribune Company to unseal court records containing highly sensitive post accident safety surveys developed by airline pilot union and completed by its membership).
• Lopez v. Ariz. Pub. Serv. Co., 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 34086 (D. Ariz. 2010) (achieved a court-approved $1.6 million settlement in an FLSA collective action brought by unionized security force at the country’s largest nuclear facility).
• Garcia v. Salt River Project Agric. Improvement & Power Dist., Elec., 618 F.Supp.2d 1092 (D. Ariz. 2007) (successfully argued that labor union was entitled to summary judgment on plaintiff’s claim for breach of the union’s duty of fair representation).
• Graham County Elec. Coop., Inc. v. Local Union No. 387, IBEW, 379 F.Supp.2d 1066 (D.  Ariz. 2005) (successfully defended employer-initiated action to vacate a labor arbitrator’s award).
• Taxey v. Maricopa County, 237 F.Supp.2d 1109 (D. Ariz. 2002) (successfully defeated employer’s motion for summary judgment in lawsuit alleging national origin discrimination).
• IBEW, Local Union 640 v. Dueck, 148 F.Supp.2d 955 (D. Ariz. 2000) (successfully sought a remand from federal to state court of a collection action brought against a union member by labor organization seeking to collect a union imposed fine against the member for his having violated the terms of his membership).
• Schnabel v. Hualapai Valley Fire Dist., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13843 (D. Ariz. 2009) (successfully defended public employer’s motion for summary judgment on various First Amendment, §1983 and state law claims brought by six unionized firefighters stemming from their discharge).
• Dowdell v. Hospice Family Care, Inc., Trial Rep. of Cent. & N. Ariz., at 4 (April 15, 2008) (achieved unanimous jury verdict in less than one hour of deliberations based on violations of the public policy of the State of Arizona and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing by employer who wrongfully terminated social worker for having notified Adult Protective Services of suspected elder abuse).
• Southwest Gas Corp., 330 N.L.R.B. No. 171, 165 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 1280 (2000) (successfully argued that employer had committed unfair labor practices by its refusal to bargain with newly selected union of its employees).
• Arizona Public Service Co. General Rate Case, 2009 Ariz. PUC LEXIS 265 (December 30, 2009) (on behalf of three labor organizations, successfully entered into and supported a settlement agreement with twenty-one other parties including pro employee public utility in which public utility received a rate hike in the amount of approximately $345 million).
• Trico Electric Cooperative, Inc. General Rate Case, 2009 Ariz. PUC LEXIS 186 (August 6, 2009) (on behalf of labor organization, successfully supported a pro employee public utility’s effort to achieve a rate hike of 8.8% or $6 million).
• Tucson Electric Power Co. General Rate Case, 270 P.U.R. 4th 1 (2008) (on behalf of labor organization, successfully entered into and supported a settlement agreement with a dozen other parties including pro employee public utility in which public utility received a 6% rate hike which, over time, equates to hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars).
• In the Matter of the Filing by Tucson Electric Power Co. to Amend Decision No. 62103, 2007 Ariz. PUC LEXIS 96 (May 21, 2007) (successfully argued on behalf of labor organization, and over the objection of public utility, that attempt to charge "market rates" for electric service was procedurally flawed in as much as it needed to be done in the context of a general rate case).
• In the Matter of the Application of Arizona Public Service Co. for an Emergency Interim Rate Increase and for an Interim Amendment to Decision No. 67744, 2006 Ariz. PUC LEXIS 59 (May 5, 2006) (on behalf of three labor organizations, successfully supported request by pro employee public utility for an additional $110 million aimed at covering utility’s prudent fuel and purchased power costs).
• Arizona Public Service Co. General Rate Case, 241 P.U.R.4th 181 (2005) (on behalf of three labor organizations, successfully entered into and supported a settlement agreement with thirty-one other parties including pro employee public utility in which public utility received a rate hike in the amount of approximately $75 million).
• In the Matter of the Reorganization of UniSource Energy Corp., 2005 Ariz. PUC LEXIS 1 (January 4, 2005) (represented two labor organizations in a regulatory proceeding involving the failed acquisition of a public service corporation by three private equity firms for the sum of approximately $3 billion).
• Lawrence N. Spitz, et al. v. Southwest Gas Corp., 213 P.U.R. 4th 53 (2001), 2002 Ariz. PUC LEXIS 1 (January 10, 2002) (on behalf of a group of union and community activists, and over the objection of six other parties including vehemently anti union public utility, successfully challenged a proposed settlement in a public utility rate case which, in turn, saved Arizona ratepayers approximately $16 million on their utility bills).

JUDICIAL EXPERIENCE

• Judge Pro Tempore with the Maricopa County Superior Court - Phoenix, AZ (2010-).

NEUTRAL EXPERIENCE

In addition to numerous Court mandated appointments, Mr. Enoch has served as an arbitrator in approximately seventy-five (75) cases.  He serves as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association (Commercial, Customer Account, Employment and Non-Binding Panels), Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (Chairperson certified) and, previously, for the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona and the Better Business Bureau’s Auto Line Program.

• Sivertson v. Citigroup Global Markets, Inc., NASD Case No. 06-03398.
• Alkire v. Citigroup Global Markets, Inc., et al., NASD Case No. 03-08546.

In addition to serving as an arbitrator, Mr. Enoch is also a credentialed mediator in the State of Texas pursuant to Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 154.052(a).

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

• Adjunct Faculty (HRER 501: Labor & Employment Law; LER 401: Labor Law) with the Department of Labor Studies & Employment Relations (2010-).


• Teaching Assistant (LIR 101: Employment Law) with the Department of Labor Studies & Industrial Relations (1990-91).


• Teaching Assistant (History 142: History of Communism) with the Department of History (1991).

PRIOR WORK EXPERIENCE

• Summer Associate with Hostler Law Offices - Charleston, WV (summer 1994);
• Legal Extern to the Honorable Walter H. Rice, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio - Dayton, OH (1993/94 school year);
• Legal Intern with U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Economic & Business Affairs, Developed Country Trade Division - Washington, D.C. (summer 1993);
• Summer Associate with Jon A. Barkman, Esq. - Somerset, PA (summer 1992);
• Assembly Line Worker with Emglo Air Compressors - Johnstown, PA (summer 1991);
• Grievance Department Intern with Council 13, American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employee, AFL-CIO - Harrisburg, PA (summer 1990); and
• Highway Maintenance Worker with Pennsylvania Department of Transportation - Somerset, PA (summers of 1988 and 1989).

PUBLICATIONS

• Nicholas J. Enoch, Preemption, Arbitration, and Fair Representation,, 1 Arizona Employment Law Handbook 2.3 (State Bar of Arizona Employment & Labor Law Section, Supp. 2010).
• A Discharged Union Member Asks “Should I Hire an Attorney?”, Employment & Labor Law News (State Bar of Arizona, Phoenix, Arizona), summer 2006, at 4.
• A Discharged Union Member Asks “Should I Hire an Attorney?”, Alternative Resolutions (State Bar of Texas Alternative Dispute Resolution Section, Austin, Texas), Feb. 2006, at 5.

LEGAL PRESENTATIONS

• March, 2010 - "Overview of the U.S. Supreme Court's Decision in 14 Penn Plaza LLC v. Pyett" (Maricopa County Bar Association).
• December, 2009 - "14 Penn Plaza LLC v. Pyett" (AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee’s Southern Regional Meeting).
• November, 2009 - "Representing IBEW Locals Before State Public Utility Commissions: A Labor Lawyer’s Guide to Doing a Rate Hearing" (IBEW Lawyers’ Conference).
• September, 2009 - "14 Penn Plaza LLC v. Pyett: What you put in your collective bargaining agreement or handbook does matter" (Labor and Employment Relations Association, Arizona Chapter).
• February, 2009 - "The Employee Free Choice Act" (Arizona Employment Lawyers’ Association).
• January, 2009 - "Change We Can Believe In: the Employee Free Choice Act and President Obama’s Workplace Agenda" (Employment and Labor Law Section of the State Bar of Arizona).
• November, 2008 - "Elections Have Consequences: Labor-Management Relations During the Obama Presidency" (Labor and Employment Relations Association, Arizona Chapter).
• October, 2008 - "Renewable Energy in Arizona: Law and Policy Implications of Arizona Becoming the Persian Gulf of Green Energy" (The American Constitution Society).
  
• April, 2006 - "Who We Are and What We Watch: Does ‘the Media’ Perpetuate Discrimination?" (The Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law).

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES

• St. Paul’s Preparatory Academy Board of Trustees (2003-2009) including, inter alia, its Chair (2007-2008). 
• SS. Peter & Paul Orthodox Church Council (2003-).  See generally www.sspeterpaulaz.org.
• Board of Directors (2010-) and Manager (2008-) for Tempe South Little League (2008-) See generally www.tempelittleleague.com.
• Manager for Chandler National Little League (2007-2008).
• Assistant Den Leader for Cub Scout Pack 275 (2008-) See generally www.azscout.org.
• City of Tempe Commission on Disability Concerns (2001-2003).
• Manager for Ahwatukee Foothills Pony Baseball (2010-). See generally www.ponybaseballaz.com.
• Board of Directors (2009-) and Assistant Den Leader for Cub Scout Pack 275 (2008-). See generally www.azscout.org/index.php?unit_id=P275.