“Determination: We are determined to provide excellent advice and service to our clients, backed by knowledge, reason and compassion.”

About 

KATHERINE BLOSTEIN is Counsel at Outten & Golden LLP in New York and a member of its Executives & Professionals Practice Group. She represents employees in public and private companies in negotiation of employment, severance, non-competition, expatriate, and international assignment agreements. She also represents teams of employees, founders and partners in employment related situations during a sale, merger and acquisitions and other corporate transactions. Ms. Blostein represents employees in various industries, including financial services (on the buy and sell side), entertainment, advertising, media, technology, fashion, and consumer goods and services. She also represents attorneys, accounting professionals, doctors and other medical practitioners in employment related matters. Ms. Blostein is also a member of the Firm’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender & Queer (LGBTQ) Workplace Rights Practice Group.

Ms. Blostein is a member of ABA’s Section of Labor & Employment Law, where she is an active member of the Employment Rights & Responsibilities and International Labor and Employment Law Committees. She is also a member of NELA/NY and NYSBA. Ms. Blostein and Ms. Wendi S. Lazar co-authored a chapter titled “Executive Employment Agreements” published in the Executive & Director Compensation Reference Guide (BNA) and an article, “Executive Pay: Skydiving with a New Parachute,” published by BNA. Ms. Blostein is Associate Editor (2015 Cumulative Supplement), assisted in the research and writing of a major treatise on international restrictive covenants, titled “Restrictive Covenants and Trade Secrets in Employment Law: An International Survey” published by BNA. She was also a contributor to “Negotiating and Drafting Expatriate Employment Agreements” published in International Labor & Employment Law, 3rd Edition, Vol. 1B by BNA.

Ms. Blostein graduated from New York Law School where she was a member of the Executive Board of the Law Review, a John Marshall Harlan Scholar, and an affiliate of the Center for International Law. She earned her B.A. from Brandeis University.

(*Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.)

Bar Admission and Professional Activity

  • Ms. Blostein is admitted to practice law only in New York.
  • Member, New York State Bar Association (NYSBA)
  • Member, National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA)
  • Member, National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA/NY)
  • Member, American Bar Association (ABA) (Section of Labor & Employment Law, Contracts & Executive Compensation Subcommittee of Employment Rights & Responsibilities Committee (ERR))

Video & Podcasts

No data was found
No data was found

Speaking Engagements

2017

  • Speaker: “Employment law perspective of data protection GDPR and privacy shield,” ELA, Fifth Transatlantic Conference: Programme, London, England

2016

  • Speaker: “Minimum Wage, Overtime, Pay Equity, and Discussion of Wages,” New York City Bar, Recent Developments in New York Employment Law, New York, NY

2015

  • Speaker: “Does the Work Day Ever End? How Employers, Unions and Employees are Grappling with Email, Social Media, BYOD and On-Call Responsibilities Around the Clock and Around the Globe,” ABA, Section of Labor & Employment Law, International Labor and Employment Law Committee, Midyear Meeting, Barcelona, Spain
  • Moderator: “Basic Employment Law Issues in Central & South America,” ABA Section of Labor & Employment Law, Employment Rights and Responsibilities Committee, Midwinter Meeting, Naples, FL

2013

  • Speaker: “But I’m Special: Industry-Specific Executive Compensation and Contract Issues,” American Bar Association, Section of Labor & Employment Law, International Labor & Employment Law Committee, Midyear Meeting, Rome, Italy

2011

  • Lecturer: “Ensuring Real “Win-Win” Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions,” American Bar Association, Annual Meeting, Toronto, ON, Canada

2010

  • Lecturer: “Digging Into the Pot of Gold – Executive Compensation Cutbacks and Take-Aways,” American Bar Association, ERR Midwinter Meeting, Coronado, CA

Blogs & Publications

International Lawyers as Clients

On May 7, at the ABA Midyear Meeting of the Section of Labor and Employment Law, the International Committee presented a panel-- "Restrictive Covenants and Labor Mobility: A Case Study of Non-Competes, and Choice-of-Law Provisions, in the Legal Profession."The panel...

Reforming Labor and Employment Laws to Improve the Economy: Comparing American and French Approaches

This Sunday, May 7, the world will be watching France to see if the wave of populism that led to Brexit and the election of President Donald Trump will now usher in Marine Le Pen as the new French president. Le Pen leads the country's far-right National Front party...

Negotiating Executive Arrangements in Private Equity

Reuters Legal News and Westlaw, By Wendi S. Lazar & Katherine Blostein, July 21, 2021

Understanding Executive Arrangements in Private Equity

Reuters Legal News and Westlaw, By Wendi S. Lazar & Katherine Blostein, July 14, 2021

Executive Pay: Skydiving With A New Parachute

Wendi S. Lazar and Katherine Blostein. Bloomberg BNA, Reproduced with permission from Pension & Benefits Daily, PBD, 11/02/2011. Copyright 2011 by The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. (800-372-1033) http://www.bna.com

The financial crisis of 2008 and the ongoing down-turn in the economy has had a significant effect on executive compensation and on executives’ leverage in negotiating the terms and conditions of their employment and equity agreements. The overwhelming outcry about excessive pay from shareholders and the public has resulted in federal regulations that limit executive pay for top executives at public companies and impose compensation restrictions and disclosure requirements on large companies generally. In addition, there has been a return to performance-based compensation, as well as a movement toward eradicating guaranteed bonuses on Wall Street and among other bonus-based businesses.

However, because of a need for top talent in tough times, companies are adjusting to the newly imposed restrictions and, where possible, are finding creative ways to structure compensation packages for employees. Unfortunately, public opinion is not as easily assuaged. The current challenge for companies and their counsel negotiating executive agreements is to balance the need for attracting and compensating top talent against potential negative public opinion. How hard and where to push becomes a concern in order to ensure that these agreements pass muster with the companies’ shareholders.

With these considerations in mind, attorneys representing executives should be aware of the most recent trends, developments, and regulations that will affect negotiations in the current economy.

Executive Pay: Skydiving With a

Arbitrability Of Sarbanes-Oxley Whistleblower Claims

This article explores the arguments presented by member firms and registered employees, and outlines what arbitration panels have decided. Laurence S. Moy. Pearl Zachlewski, Linda Neilan, and Katherine Blostein. The Neutral Corner, Newsletter of FINRA Neutrals, Volume 1, 2008.

Since the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX), arbitrators handling employment claims may be faced with a throny question concerning SOX whistleblower claims: Should a SOX claim be litigated in court or arbitrated? Ultimately, the question comes to whether SOX whistleblower claims constitute "employment discrimination" claims, and are thus exempt from arbitration under Rule 13201 of the Code of Arbitration Procedure for Industry Disputes (Code). This article explores the arguments presented by member firms and registered employees and outlines what arbitration panels have decided.

 

What Every NELA Lawyer Should Know: A Guide to the Statutes We Use Every Day

Piper Hoffman and Katherine (Olshansky) Blostein, The Employee Advocate, Spring/Summer 2006

Awards & Recognition

  • 2024: Best Lawyers
  • 2021 – 2018: Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Employment Lawyers
  • 2014 – 2021: Super Lawyers NY Metro Rising Star
  • 2019: Super Lawyers NY Women’s Rising Star
  • John Marshall Harlan Scholar, New York Law School

Share

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn