James F. Glunt

Jay Glunt helps clients avoid employment litigation and minimize risk through regular and proactive counseling on subjects such as reductions in force, restructurings, wage/hour compliance, best practices for policies and procedures, hire/fire and disciplinary decisions, work/family balance issues, and maintaining compliance with federal, state, and local laws and regulations.

Despite best efforts, litigation cannot always be avoided.  A significant aspect of Jay’s practice involves management of employment litigation in state and federal trial and appellate courts, and before administrative agencies.  Such litigation sometimes requires defense of a client’s interests, and other times requires enforcement of a client’s rights.  Jay has substantial experience prosecuting restrictive covenant and trade secret injunction actions.  With the rise in overtime collective actions and other employment class actions, Jay has developed specialized knowledge regarding avoidance and defense of such cases.  Jay negotiates and drafts executive employment contracts and deals with issues relating to executive employment, compensation, termination, and severance.  He enjoys assisting on business transactions through the review and drafting of employment forms and agreements (employment contracts, handbooks, executive compensation plans, severance plans, release agreements and restrictive covenants).

Stemming from his regular involvement with complex litigation, Jay has developed specialized knowledge and experience on matters relating to discovery of electronically stored information (ESI).  Jay serves on the program committee for the firm’s internal e-discovery training program, the purpose of which is to assure a uniform standard of quality on ESI matters across all offices of the firm.  The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania has recognized Jay’s ESI capabilities by authorizing Jay to serve as an e-discovery special master when appointed by the Court.
Active in the community, Jay served for 10 years as a member of the Dormont (PA) Zoning Hearing Board, and for 3 years on the board of the civic organization Sustainable Pittsburgh. He was recently appointed by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett to serve on the Early Learning Investment Commission, a public-private partnership of business leaders serving as advocates for quality early childhood education because of the connection between early childhood investment and a strong Pennsylvania economy.  Jay is a member of the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership's Office Recruitment and Retention Committee, which works to position downtown Pittsburgh as a safe and welcoming environment for all employers.  Jay also teaches a semester-long Negotiation Skills workshop as an adjunct professor at the Duquesne University Law School.

Jay was recognized in Philadelphia Magazine as a member of the Pennsylvania Super Lawyers Rising Star list for five consecutive years (2005-2009).  In 2011, Jay was selected for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America for the practice area Litigation -- Labor and Employment.  Jay has obtained a Yellow Belt from the Legal Lean Sigma Institute, and serves on an interdisciplinary team of Ogletree employees focused on application of process improvement tactics to the process of onboarding lateral attorneys joining the firm.