Wolters Kluwer Releases New Digital Solution for Legal Professionals to Advise Clients during Collective Bargaining Negotiations

NEW YORK, Nov. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. today announced the launch of the new Collective Bargaining SmartTask Toolkit, a practice-ready solution to provide legal professionals with expert advice on key issues, considerations and steps when working with a client to negotiate a collectively bargained agreement. With content developed by Michael J. Soltis, a nationally recognized labor law expert, each SmartTask™ in this series guides users step-by-step through critical stages of the collective bargaining process, with practical insights based on the expert's extensive experience.

As businesses across the U.S. continue to struggle with COVID-19's economic impacts, unions are expected to play an increasingly important role in the interactions between employers and employees. Wolters Kluwer developed the Collective Bargaining SmartTask Toolkit in response to the needs of labor professionals entering into negotiations on wages, fringe benefits, hours of work, working conditions, the handling of grievances, and more. 

"In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the role of unions has taken on increased importance in the quickly evolving landscape of labor law," said Ken Crutchfield, Vice President and General Manager of Legal Markets at Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. "During this period of great economic volatility, it is critical for labor relations firms and attorneys to have an understanding of key issues and be able to negotiate them effectively on behalf of their clients. We believe that this resource will help our customers to stay on top of issues concerning collective bargaining and save them valuable time and resources." 

Located in the SmartTask™ quick-link box on the Labor & Employment Law Cheetah™ dashboard, the new resource center consists of five "how-to" guides on the following topics:

• Preparing for collective bargaining negotiation
• Bargaining in good faith
• Responding to union requests for information
• Negotiating a management rights clause
• Negotiating an arbitration clause

As the only solution offering guided analysis, interpretations and practitioner commentary through each of the key stages of the collective bargaining process, the Toolkit is a necessary expert resource for law firms with management-side labor law practices and attorneys who advise clients on labor relations and collective bargaining. The Toolkit is a virtual mentor for onboarding and preparing new associates, who will be participating as part of the negotiating team.

"The impacts of the pandemic have put tremendous pressure on businesses and industries struggling to survive dire financial situations, as well as on employees who are fighting to keep their jobs and benefits," said Mr. Soltis. "I am very pleased to work with Wolters Kluwer on this essential portfolio of content for legal professionals."

Mr. Soltis is an attorney, arbitrator and adjunct professor of employment and labor law at Quinnipiac University School of Law. He represented employers in employment and labor law matters for nearly 40 years with the national law firm of Jackson Lewis P.C., including negotiating more than 100 labor contracts.

The Toolkit is located on Cheetah™, an intuitive legal research platform powered by Wolters Kluwer's world-class content. The solution combines an easy-to-use, responsive interface with Wolters Kluwer's deep domain expertise and curated analysis to provide legal professionals with in-depth, accurate, and up-to-date information in a single location.

To learn more about the new Collective Bargaining SmartTask Toolkit, visit: WoltersKluwerLR.com/CollectiveBargaining

About Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S.

Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. is a part of Wolters Kluwer N.V. (AEX: WKL), a global leader in professional information, software solutions, and services for the healthcare, tax and accounting, governance, risk and compliance, and legal and regulatory sectors. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with advanced technology and services.

Wolters Kluwer reported 2019 annual revenues of €4.6 billion. The group serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries, and employs approximately 19,000 people worldwide. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands.

For more information about Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S., visit www.WoltersKluwerLR.com, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Media

Linda Gharib
Director, Communications
Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S.
Tel: +1 (646) 887-7962
Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S.