Howard Shifman hshifman@shifmanfournier.com (248) 594-8700

Mr. Shifman is the founding partner of Shifman Fournier.  Over the course of his career he has focused his practice on public sector labor and employment law matters.  During a rich and diverse professional career, he has had the opportunity to serve as counsel to numerous local governments located throughout the State of Michigan. 

Mr. Shifman  has extensive experience in labor relations law and employment-related litigation for government employers. This experience includes all facets of labor relations including, among other things, collective bargaining, mediation, fact-finding, contract administration, grievance processing and arbitration, Act 312 arbitration, litigation, representation, civil service, civil rights, wage-hour, pension, and employee benefit matters.  Mr. Shifman is a frequent lecturer on labor and employment law matters for the Michigan Municipal League and Michigan Public Employer Labor Relations Association, among others.  This experience and diverse knowledge base has assisted Mr. Shifman in resolving numerous labor disputes successfully avoiding litigation.

Mr. Shifman’s approach to Labor Relations is aided by the unique opportunity he had representing employee unions during the early years of his practice.  Prior to representing employers, he served as general counsel to a number of public employee unions, including law enforcement.  This experience provided him the opportunity to obtain firsthand experience in labor relations and the impact on public employees and public employee unions.  However, over the past 30 years he has dedicated his practice and his career exclusively to representing the interests of management and public sector employers.