Ralph Dawson is engaged in the practice of labor and employment law and civil litigation in the  New York office. His practice involves the representation of employers in proceedings before the courts and administrative agencies. He also represents employers in collective bargaining negotiations and in grievance and arbitration proceedings under labor contracts. 

In the broader employment law area, Mr. Dawson represents employers in courts and in administrative proceedings involving claims of wrongful discharge and claims of employment discrimination brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act and related federal and state statutes. He has also represented clients in a variety of commercial disputes involving non-competition, other restrictive covenants, breach of contract and tort claims. He also provides counseling and training to various companies in the securities industry and other industries.

Mr. Dawson's interest in public policy matters has led him to collaborate with our Public Finance Department of which he is now a part. In this capacity he has been part of the our teams acting as underwriter's counsel for various financial institutions.

In May 2013 Dawson was appointed by a Justice of the New York Supreme Court to act as Receiver for one of the largest investment funds whose investors were defrauded in the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme.  In that capacity his responsibilities primarily include:  (1) implementing a $ 410 million settlement (with a Receiver for another fund) in an action brought by the New York Attorney General ("NYAG") against the manager of the Fund, including proceedings with respect to eligibility of certain investors to participate; (2) communicating with domestic and foreign investors in the Fund, the NYAG and the Court about the settlement, the federal government's Madoff Victim's Fund and other relevant matters; (3) defending an action by the Madoff Trustee to stay any distribution of those settlement funds, including an appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; (4) defending an action brought by the Madoff Trustee in US Bankruptcy Court to avoid hundreds of millions of dollars in alleged wrongful transfers; and (5) pursuing the allowance by the Madoff Trustee of hundreds of millions in claims in bankruptcy on behalf of investors in the Fund for which he is Receiver.  As Receiver Dawson supervises the work of a diverse team of attorneys focused on producing the best results for investors in the Fund.

Mr. Dawson also served as Co-Chief Diversity Officer, responsible for providing leadership in internal and external diversity and inclusion activities.