CHARLESTON – Eric W. Iskra of Spilman Thomas & Battle recently was elected to the Council of the Labor and Employment section of the American Bar Association.
Iskra is one of 12 management lawyers on the council, which serves as the governing body of more than 19,000 section members. He said the council oversees all 15 substantive committees of the labor section, including countless continuing legal education and professional development programs.
“The labor section is part of the largest association of U.S. lawyers, the American Bar Association,” Iskra told The West Virginia Record. “Through the council, the section has the ability to impact significant legal issues in the employment and labor arena throughout the country.”
Iskra said the council also is committed to promoting diversity issues in the legal profession and the workplace.
Iskra is chair of Spilman’s labor and employment practice group. He also serves as the member in charge of client relations. His law practice encompasses trial work and litigation with an emphasis on labor and employment, employment class actions, wage and hour class/collective actions and other high-stakes litigation.
As a member of the council, Iskra said he wants to help advance the field of employment law.
“I hope to work closely with my fellow management constituents to advance the training and education of labor and employment lawyers and to effect change that positively impacts employers,” he said.
Iskra is AV Preeminent Peer Review rated by Martindale-Hubbell, the organization’s highest distinction, for excellence in his law practice. He is a fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers and also has been recognized by Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers and Chambers USA.
Admitted to practice law in West Virginia, Iskra earned his undergraduate degree from The College of William & Mary in 1991 and his law degree from Wake Forest University School of Law in 1994.
In addition to his work with the ABA, Iskra’s professional affiliations include the National CLE Conference, the American Employment Law Council and the World Services Group.
“I am humbled by this honor, as it serves as the capstone for my 20 plus years of being active in the ABA labor section and practicing labor and employment law,” Iskra said.
In the community, Iskra is a member of the board of trustees for the Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences and is a former board president for Hospice Care Inc.
According to the American Bar Association’s website, the labor and employment section’s initiatives include diversity in the legal profession, outreach to law students, pro bono work and labor/employment job listings.
The section’s standing committees deal with alternative dispute resolution in labor and employment law, development of the law under the NLRA, employee benefits, employment rights and responsibilities, Equal Employment Opportunity, ethics and professional responsibility, federal labor standards litigation, federal sector labor and employment law, international labor and employment law, occupational safety and health law, practice and procedure under the NLR, railway and airline labor law, state and local government bargaining and employment law, technology in the practice and workplace and workers’ compensation.
The ABA said the section’s committees deal with emerging legal issues “and are a major force behind many developments in labor and employment law.”