Eric Paltell

Eric Paltell has practiced law since 1987, concentrating in the representation of private and public sector employers in all aspects of labor and employment law. He obtained his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Virginia.

Prior to joining Kollman & Saucier in 2002, Eric was a partner with one of the world’s largest law firms, DLA Piper. Eric’s practice includes general advice and counseling in employment matters, as well as the defense of employment discrimination and sexual harassment suits, ADA and FMLA litigation, wrongful discharge suits, wage and hour cases, ERISA litigation, NLRB proceedings, collective bargaining negotiations, and grievance arbitrations.

Eric is a Fellow in the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, and  has been named Baltimore’s  Management Labor/Employment “Lawyer of the Year” four times  (2020, 2018, 2015, and 2014)  by the Best Lawyers in America.  Eric is also listed as one of the top labor attorneys in Maryland in the Chambers USA publication, “America’s Leading Business Lawyers,” and he is one of only five attorneys in Maryland to receive a “Band One” ranking from Chambers.  He has been listed by Baltimore Magazine as one of Maryland’s “Super Lawyers” since 2007 and has obtained an “AV” peer review rating from Lexis-Nexis/Martindale Hubbell.

Eric also spends a substantial portion of his time mediating employment law disputes. He is a member of the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution’s Employment Disputes Panel, and  has been mediating with the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for nearly 20 years, where he has the highest success rate of any pro bono mediator in the Commission’s Baltimore Office (click here for a reference letter from the EEOC concerning Eric’s mediation skills).  Eric has served as a trainer  for other EEOC mediators and as a mediator for the Circuit Courts of Baltimore, Cecil, and  Howard Counties. In addition to his Maryland mediation practice, Eric is affiliated with Positive Solutions Group in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he is certified through the Supreme Court of Virginia to practice as a mediator in General District and Circuit Courts in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Eric is a member of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce Employment Relations Committee, and is the Past President of the Industrial Relations Research Association, Maryland Chapter.  He has also served on the Boards of  the American Red Cross-Chesapeake Region, the Carver Center for Arts & Technology, the Stoneleigh Community Association, and Jewish Family Services of Maryland. Outside of work, Eric spends his free time hiking and cycling, and is gradually chipping away at section hiking the 554-mile Virginia portion of the Appalachian Trail.