Keith Markel is co-chair of New York-based law firm Morrison & Cohen's Labor and Employment Law Department. Luxury retail brands, retailers, institutional clients, hedge funds, private equity shops, various businesses of all sizes and individuals turn to Keith to address a wide range of employment matters. Keith has represented a wide array of luxury and other retailers in various employment matters in court, arbitration and before the DOL, EEOC and other administrative and government agencies in the United States. He has also handled numerous arbitrations before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for, among other claims, wrongful discharge, breach of contract, promissory estoppel, tortious interference, quantum meruit and unjust enrichment, and violations of state labor law. He has also handled various Form U-5 expungement and promissory note cases at FINRA. He has litigated various matters involving wage and hour issues, discrimination allegations, restrictive covenants and employee loyalty-related claims in state and federal courts throughout the country. Keith also routinely counsels and negotiates on behalf of management and senior executives on employment agreements and separation arrangements, and regularly advises human resources and in-house counsel teams on day-to-day employment issues, layoffs, employee handbooks and EEO training, as well as anticipated litigation arising out of the business and employment relationship. He writes often about various employment issues pertinent to employers and authors the blog, FINRA Employment Arbitration Commentator, which covers relevant FINRA awards, articles of interest in the area of employment/securities arbitration, related court decisions and regulatory announcements.