Galen Baynes has been promoted to partner at Pechman Law Group. Galen is an exceptional litigator, negotiator, and mentor to his colleagues. We are grateful for the terrific work he does for our clients and look forward to his continued success at our firm.
Galen focuses his practice on representing employees in wage theft cases, litigating employment discrimination claims, and advising clients in resolving employment disputes and negotiating severance and separation agreements.
Galen is a skilled litigator who has represented clients in proceedings before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the federal district courts in New York and New Jersey, arbitration forums, and government agencies. Among his notable litigation results, he has secured multiple six-figure settlements on behalf of his clients, including a $400,000 offer of judgment on behalf of two kitchen workers at a Vietnamese restaurant in Queens. Galen also successfully obtained summary judgment on behalf of four waiters and bartenders in their wage litigation against a German restaurant in Manhattan and secured the dismissal of an employee’s retaliation claims against a Korean newspaper company under the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Law, which was affirmed on appeal.
In addition to his litigation successes, Galen takes pride in providing thoughtful counseling to executive clients in negotiating severance and separation agreements, navigating issues with non-competition and other restrictive covenants in employment agreements, and resolving other employment disputes. He has represented executives in a wide range of industries in navigating thorny employment disputes and separations from their employers.
Prior to joining PLG, Galen served for two years as a law clerk to Chief Judge Wilma A. Lewis at the United States District Court of the Virgin Islands on St. Croix. He received his J.D. magna cum laude, Order of the Coif, from Case Western Reserve University School of Law, where he was a Frederick K. Cox International Law Center Fellow and senior editor of the Case Western Reserve University Law Review.
Before law school, Galen was an investigator with the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board, where he conducted investigations into allegations of police misconduct. He also lived for five years in Managua, Nicaragua, where he worked for various nonprofit organizations including American Jewish World Service, World Learning, and Witness for Peace. He is a fluent Spanish speaker.
