Brooke Duncan joined Adams and Reese in 1992 and is a senior member of the Labor and Employment team. Hired to build the labor and employment practice of the firm, Brooke helped it grow into the 30-plus lawyer team practicing in that area today. He also co-chairs the firm’s New Business Acceptance Committee and serves as one of the firm’s labor and employment lawyers for in-house matters.
Focusing his practice on labor and employment law, Brooke works exclusively on behalf of employers and has experience in union avoidance and union relations. He represents employers in many fields including universities, hospitals, trucking companies, shipyards, restaurants, convention and trade show contractors, manufacturers, insurance brokers and nonprofit organizations.
Brooke is a problem-solver for his clients. He de-mystifies the law so that clients can use the law as a tool to carry out their objectives and further their goals. One good example involved Brooke resolving a difficult union stranglehold on the convention and trade show industry in New Orleans, which was threatening one of the area’s most important economic engines. Brooke strategized a way to break their hold and allow employers to operate efficiently and more competitively with other cities. This also vastly expanded employment opportunities for local workers who had been unable to break into the union-dominated hiring system. Years of litigation ensued and the client ultimately prevailed. The real achievement was the transformation of the industry for the good of the clients, their employees, and the area’s economy.
Other ways in which Brooke brings value to clients include:
- Practical, proactive consulting with CEOs, managers and human resources professionals about problematic labor and employment issues. Drawing on his real-world workplace management experience, Brooke’s practice focuses on avoiding needless legal entanglements and achieving positive employee relations.
- Helping employers maintain union-free status, defend job discrimination claims, answer FMLA questions, understand wage and hour regulations, resolve reduction-in-force issues, and comply with the myriad of workplace regulations and laws facing all employers.
- Developing and revising handbooks and policies; preparing employment agreements and confidentiality/non-competition contracts; advising on employment issues arising from mergers and acquisitions.
Brooke is a sought-after speaker who regularly conducts seminars and presentations for clients, employer groups, and trade associations. He is listed in Chambers USA, Best Lawyers® and Louisiana Super Lawyers®.
He recently authored and had published, "Best Practices for Dealing with Recent Employment Law Developments and Trends," an employment law chapter in Aspatore: Inside the Minds, The Impact of Recent Regulatory Developments in Employment Law.
Prior to becoming a lawyer, he gained practical business and management experience by running a factory that produced industrial fabric products. Brooke also served as a detective with the New Orleans Police Department, receiving several awards for outstanding duty.
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