Steven E. " Steve" Kramer - Lawyer in Knoxville, TN

Steven E. Kramer has over 30 years' experience working with a broad cross-section of industries and management teams in his practice areas of Employment and Labor, Corporate and Transactional, and Sports Law. He provides sound and practical legal advice to his clients and proactively interacts with management teams in some of the most critical aspects of their businesses. He has also given numerous management training and civic group presentations on employment and sports law issues.

Prior to joining Kramer Rayson, Mr. Kramer served as Vice President of Human Resources and General Counsel for AGC Glass North America from 1990 to 2002. In addition to his responsibilities over HR and Legal, Mr. Kramer managed the Quality (ISO/TS16949) programs at AGC Glass N.A. He was in private practice for 10 years before joining AGC.

Mr.Kramers experience within the Employment and Labor practice includes:

? Managingover 50 successful labor campaigns for employers in manufacturing, healthcare,trucking, construction, and dairy, defeating union campaigns by the UAW,Steelworkers, Teamsters, Machinists, et al.

? Successfullynegotiated over 100 labor contracts in the above industries, saving clientsmillions of dollars in achieving operational flexibility and efficiency, and overthe past several years a substantial part of Mr. Kramers practice has beendevoted to negotiating wage concessions, increased health care, and frozenpensions in a difficult business environment. The contracts were negotiated across Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi,Alabama, Kentucky, and Canada.

? Managedsix successful decertification campaigns in the above industries.

? Triedover 100 Labor Arbitration cases.

? Representedemployers in nearly every type of discrimination claim possible under state andfederal law.

? Handledmore than 25 non-compete cases to enforce client employment contracts? Successfullyguiding numerous employers through complex Reductions in Force (RIF) cases andcorporate reorganizations

Corporateand Transactional practice:

? Mr.Kramer, in both his private law practice and as Vice President of HR andGeneral Counsel for a $1 billion+ multi-national company (5000employees), has counseled senior management teams through a wide variety ofbusiness strategies, acquisitions, reorganizations, RIFs, and senior managementtransitions.

SportsLaw practice:

? Principalfocus is providing counsel to several coaches and athletic directors onemployment contract related issues.

Recent Publication

«Noel Canning v. NLRB: Picking Teams During „Recess“

Kramer Rayson LLP e-Newsletter — Labor and Employment Journal, March 2013

»The NLRB Has Taken a Sharp Left"

Kramer Rayson LLP e-Newsletter — Labor and Employment Journal, December 2010

Recent Presentations

Mr. Kramer has conducted management, supervisory, and employee training programs on virtually every aspect of employment law, including EEO/ADA/FMLA, harassment training, union avoidance, and maintaining a high performance, pro-employee work environment.

His most recent program to a bar association was, «Current Sports Law Issues Meet Traditional Labor and Employment Law,» addressing NFL contract talks and the employment contracts of collegiate coaches such as Lane Kiffin, Bruce Pearl, Nick Saban, and others.