Legally Bond
Legally Bond
An Interview with Sara Colacino, Labor and Employment
In this episode of Legally Bond, Kim speaks with Bond labor and employment attorney Sara Colacino. Sara discusses her labor practice in both the private and public sectors, her work with school districts and her passion for community service.
Hello and welcome to Legally Bond, a podcast presented by the law firm Bond Genick King. I'm your host, kim Wolf-Price. On today's episode we're talking with Sarah Colaccino. Sarah is a member at the firm, sitting in our Rochester New York office. She's part of our labor department and, besides counseling employers in the private sector on all areas of labor and employment law, she also practices in our school law practice group as part of our public sector representation. Hey, sarah, welcome to the podcast, or welcome back. I should say Thank you, glad to be here. It's great to have you back. You were here about a year ago when you first joined the firm for an intro and we're glad to have you back for a full episode.
Speaker 2:Thank you.
Speaker 1:All right. So I'm excited to catch up with you and have you as a guest, and we have a lot to get to labor and employment, practice, school law and, if it's okay, maybe touch on some of your community work, because I love seeing on social media all of the other things that you're involved with. So does that sound like a good conversation for you?
Speaker 2:That sounds great.
Speaker 1:These are many of the things about which I'm passionate. I love that. Well, it's a bit of a tradition on our podcast to have guests start by telling our listeners a little bit about themselves. So would you mind telling us some of your background? It can be where you're from, where you went to undergrad, law school kids, whatever it is that you'd like to share with the listeners.
Speaker 2:Sure. So I grew up in Newark, new York. From there I went to Nazareth it's now a university then college right here in Rochester. I then went to Syracuse University College of Law and I actually commuted from about halfway between Rochester and Syracuse. So I started right out of law school at another local firm and then, as you mentioned, I joined the firm about a year ago. I have four children, ranging in age from 19 down to nine, so they keep me very busy with all sorts of athletic and musical events. So we're having a ton of fun and very busy, both work-wise and personally.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely. I'm sure you're always on the run. I have just two and I'm always on the run, so four is double the amount of travel, so that's fantastic. And we talked a little bit about school law and you and I have been lucky enough to speak at the school attorneys meeting that you have each year, the sort of statewide one, and meet the kids, because that's a great opportunity for people to bring their families, so it was really great to meet them all.
Speaker 2:Definitely Thank you. It's a fun group and we really appreciated you being there and your contributions.
Speaker 1:Thank you All right, so we really appreciate you sharing that background. I think it's great for listeners to learn a little bit about our guests. So in the opening I mentioned that you practice in labor and employment law. So what do we mean when we say that, Sarah?
Speaker 2:Well, it means a lot of things as far as the work that I do. I work both with public sector and private sector employers, companies, school districts, other municipalities related to labor and employment work, and so much of my work with those public and private sector organizations has to do with leave law compliance, compliance with anti-discrimination and anti-harassment laws. We often help clients with separation agreements. We try to figure out, you know, do you want to work through and reach an agreement so that there's a price to pay for certainty, so to speak. As you know, we often discuss or, you know, let this play out and see if we might be defending the company through an administrative proceeding or litigation. We do a number of investigations or attorney reviews for clients, we do training, we review policies.
Speaker 2:So in labor and employment it really touches upon a number of areas and one of the great things about Bond that has been really tremendous for the last 12 plus months that we've now been here is being able to call upon the deep bench of others who have that substantive knowledge in areas where I may not have that sort of deeper substantive knowledge. So, by way of example, just this week I called upon three separate colleagues. I was working with one of our private sector clients on a separation agreement where there's tax issues, non-compete and non-solicitation issues as well as commission issues, and so it's been really wonderful that people are eager and excited to help and really have that team effort so we can very quickly get our client work product that is just top-notch. So it's been great that you really can focus on what you know and be comfortable in what you don't, because there's just so many people with that substantive knowledge throughout the firm who are happy to help.
Speaker 1:That's terrific. We love hearing that. The teamwork part, I think, is what draws people here, so it's great to hear about it in action. That's terrific.
Speaker 2:Definitely. It's great to see it and now believe it, because we've been living it for the 12 plus months, so it's really, really exciting.
Speaker 1:That's fantastic. Well, is the work you do for public sector clients pretty similar to that private sector work, that type of counseling, or is it different because of public laws and other aspects?
Speaker 2:It's both, so there's a lot of overlap right. There's a number of laws, for example, with the leave laws and in the anti-harassment and anti-discrimination realm, both on the federal and state side, that apply right, whether you're public sector, private sector, just by way of example. But there are a number of laws that apply only to the public sector and, similarly, only to the private sector. So it's important to be able to know and make sure that you're conferring with colleagues as appropriate so that you're up to speed on the latest and greatest right. There's so many laws that are constantly coming through, new laws and issues to make sure that we're keeping abreast of. So a lot of overlap, but it's important to know the key distinction so that we can make sure we're in the right universe, so to speak, when we're providing that consultation to our clients.
Speaker 1:It must be get really fun and interesting, though, to sort of have to toggle back and forth from time to time, because then you have to. You know you probably learn from each way. So even if the law doesn't apply how you approach the clients in the problem, you learn every time how to do that right the clients and the problem.
Speaker 2:You learn every time how to do that right Absolutely. You know it is a different mindset when you're working with school district clients and other municipal clients versus private sector clients, and one of the things that really drew me to Bond is the ability to do both right. I've always, throughout my career, worked with both public sector and private sector clients and it was really important for me to be able to continue to do so, but I really enjoyed the work in both areas and not having to choose one particular subset or the other, so to be able to enjoy both types of work.
Speaker 1:That's great. Well, I feel like I'd be remiss if we didn't talk a little bit about school law, because we're recording this and school board election signs are popping up in my town because we're entering that time of year and school budget votes here in New York State. So I know a lot of the public sector work you do is representing school districts really across the state and the region and we call that school law. But can you talk about what school law is as a practice and practice group?
Speaker 2:Sure.
Speaker 2:So school law is a little bit of everything.
Speaker 2:So I work with school districts and BOCES throughout the state, primarily related to labor and employment operations, student and board of education issues, and so there really is no typical day, right, I come into the office, I sit down, you know I'm going through that mental checklist of all the things that I need to do and the people I need to get back to, and then something happens, and you always have to be prepared to expect the unexpected, because you know whether it's a student issue or a personnel issue, or, you know, maybe there's some conflict between the board and the superintendent, whatever it may be, you really just don't know what you're going to get on any given day, and I really enjoy that, yeah, really interesting.
Speaker 2:School law, though, is so many other things. I think I mentioned when we got together the first time on the podcast that I was really grateful because the co-practice group leaders for our school law group had prepared for us a couple page sheet of the different contacts in the substantive areas throughout the firm. So, for example, we might get a call related to immigration matters, intellectual property matters, questions related to capital projects, real estate matters questions related to capital projects, real estate. There's so many areas that you might not even realize school districts may have questions related to, but when you're dealing with schools really there can be so many different practice areas throughout the firm where help is needed.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it really. It seems like it's a municipality in a way, right, it's like got everything, or it's a corporation, except it has the added layer of minor children being involved. So that triggers a whole other set of laws, doesn't it? It sure does. So it keeps it interesting and that must be one of the ways it's different than other public sector work. If you were working for a town or a county and representing them in different ways, is it the fact that we're dealing with children and those like Education, right to Privacy Act, things like that, that sort of gives it another layer in the school law.
Speaker 2:So absolutely yes, we're regularly dealing with data privacy issues, confidentiality related to student records. We also are dealing with families and their emotions related to student discipline proceedings. By way of example, there's been appeals and litigation related to different books on shelves in the library right. So these are contentious times in a number of different areas. When you're dealing with adults and students in schools, unfortunately, you do often face bad actors, and so one of the things that I frequently deal with in my practice is representing school districts and BOCES with respect to making sure that we're doing everything in our power to protect students. So, whether it's going through a discipline, proceeding with a tenured employee or a civil service employee with due process rights, or working with a school district around a student bad actor or someone else who has done something that could potentially or has harmed students in school, it's good to be part of the team to be able to help the district or the BOCES reach a resolution that ultimately, is going to protect kids.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that's such an important part of the work and make sure it's within the law and that you know the kids are protected. I think maybe people wouldn't fully understand how emotional it can be, because it is about not just educating kids, which is critical, but also protecting them. One of the things you said earlier that just is striking me is there's not one decision that gets made in school law that someone doesn't have an opinion on. So I just keep thinking about, you know, the cell phone policies in schools right now. Your districts must be calling about every policy like that. They call you and then they probably get blowback from both sides nonstop and it's helping them sometimes, I would imagine. Stay the course and keep going, because it's hard when you get so much negative impact, even when something is just that we're following the law.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. You're always, as a school administrator or school school employee, between a rock and a hard place, and so a big portion of what I do is actually just listening and helping the superintendent or the board president or whomever I may be talking to in the moment understand that they're not alone I may be talking to in the moment. Understand that they're not alone, right? So it ebbs and flows. Every district seems to have more than its fair share at one time or another. But just helping them to understand, okay, this is the legal framework. Others have been through this. We're here with you, we'll get through it.
Speaker 1:And then not that there's ever really a lull you kind of get back to the difficult stuff that you're familiar with, right, the difficult stuff that you deal with day in and day out, and get past the really difficult stuff when we work together labor and employment laws have a deep bench who are experienced working with the particular issues that school districts face, must bring a level of comfort to the clients to know that they can call you, and sometimes it may actually not even end up being a legal issue, right, it's just that they want to talk through much like our private sector clients a business issue to see if there's any legal implications.
Speaker 2:For sure. So a number of times throughout the week I will get that call where it's. I know what the answer is here, but I just want to hear what you think or what you would do. And that's great right that we've established these relationships. You know I've been I've been working with school districts and BOCES and private sector employers for just over 20 years, so to know that they trust us, not just for the legal but also, you know, the what would you do if you were in this situation? Type question. It's really great.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's fantastic. I mentioned at the beginning that I want to talk a little bit about your community work. I love seeing on LinkedIn and other places your posts about all the community projects you're engaged in, the ways you engage with the community, school districts and otherwise. You know education and beyond. Would you talk about why that that service and engagement is important to you?
Speaker 2:Sure. So I grew up around Rotarians. My grandfather was a Rotarian, my father was a Rotarian, and then, after my father passed away, my mom actually became a Rotarian. So not only did I grow up around Rotary, but as soon as I graduated from Syracuse in 2004, I then moved to a couple different locations and accordingly moved to a couple of different locations and accordingly moved to a couple of different Rotary clubs. But I've stuck with Rotary.
Speaker 2:Whether it's being a Rotary club president or the president of a camp for individuals with special needs, rotary really is one of the main service organizations that my family and I have always been passionate about, and so it's been important for me to continue to instill those values in my own children, and so my older two children are honorary Rotarians. My younger two are probably going to be honorary Rotarians any day now, and so if there's a hands on service project that I know they'll enjoy, I ask them to come along, and it's really fulfilling, especially with my nine-year-old. She loves the positive attention, she loves to feel like she's making a difference, and so she's actually been asking me for six months, when one of the service projects that we just had last weekend was occurring, because she was so excited to help again. Oh, that's so great.
Speaker 2:And so I think that that helps right. It helps to mold those well-rounded and empathetic people as they become adults.
Speaker 1:That's fantastic. It's a great way to spend time together. That's not racing from activity to activity as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely, when we can fit it in.
Speaker 1:Well, all right. So now I have to ask you when you were in law school, was it your plan to be a labor lawyer?
Speaker 2:My plan was not to be a labor lawyer. I actually went to law school thinking I was going to be an assistant district attorney. So when I was in my first year at Syracuse I took there was one of those legislative policy type courses and I took a labor law course with Bob Rabin I don't know if you remember Bob Rabin, I sure do and I had a really great time, it was enjoyable. And then so I took another labor law course, I think my second year of law school, and then I did an internship and an externship at two different DA's offices and I was still thinking that was the path I was going down.
Speaker 2:And then the summer, following my second year of law school, I received a phone call from a cousin of mine who worked at a plaintiff side employment law firm here in Rochester and they needed some help. And so, just by happenstance, I started working there one day a week because I was commuting to Syracuse and I really liked the substantive area to Syracuse. And I really liked the substantive area. My mindset, having grown up around a family business, is more aligned with representing employers, and so I gravitated toward that side. And here I am today loving the work that I do.
Speaker 1:That's great. I think that Bob Raymond would love that one class. It got you on this path in a way. Well, did you even know school law was a practice area when you were in law school?
Speaker 2:I had no idea that school law was a practice area. So when I started at my prior firm just over 20 years ago, labor and employment and school law were in the same practice group, and so I started doing the work and worked for a number of different partners, some of whom only did school law, some did a little bit of both, and then others worked with private sector clients, and that is what introduced me to both types, or all types, of labor and employment work and enabled me to kind of continue to work with different types of clients across the board.
Speaker 1:That's great and I think that even here people are in a couple of practice groups, sometimes right. Like you do general labor for private sector, you do school law, but because they're complementary it works really well.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:So do you have any advice for anyone in law school right now who may want to be a labor?
Speaker 2:lawyer. Pursue your dreams, and if you start in a role that doesn't fit, you just keep looking, because eventually you'll land in a role that makes sense for you, both personally and professionally. So don't be afraid to pursue the work about which you're passionate.
Speaker 1:And then maybe even if you're further in your career, if you feel like you need to make a change to keep doing that, go ahead and take that chance to.
Speaker 2:A hundred percent no regrets. I am so glad I made the move to bond and I'm looking forward to the future.
Speaker 1:Terrific Well, thanks so much, sarah. It's always great to have you on the podcast. We hope you'll come back again soon and thanks for joining us today. Thank you for having me have a great day. Thank you for tuning into this episode of Legally Bond. If you're listening and have any questions for me, want to hear from someone at the firm or have a suggestion for a future topic, please email us at legallybond at bskcom. Also, don't forget to rate, review and subscribe to Legally Bond wherever podcasts are downloaded. Until our next talk, be well talk Be well.
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