Larry Cary – Partner (1952-2021)

Larry Cary is a Founding Partner of Cary Kane LLP. He has practiced labor, employment and employee benefits law for 30 years and been involved with the American labor movement for over 40 years. Previously he was the senior partner in the labor department of Vladeck, Waldman, Elias & Engelhard where he represented unions and benefit plans for 17 years. He also was general counsel to the Amalgamated Service and Allied Industries Joint Board, ACTWU, and its pension and welfare benefit plans. Before attending law school, Mr. Cary was an organizer for Local 3, United Storeworkers, RWDSU, a research assistant in a multiemployer welfare benefits plan, and the development specialist in charge of starting-up the Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives at New York University.

Mr. Cary taught labor law and related subject for over 20 years.  He was an Adjunct in the labor liberal arts extension certificate program of Cornell University, School of Industrial and Labor Relations, where he has taught labor, employment and employee benefits law.  As an Assistant Professor for Hofstra University he taught labor law, union administration, contract administration, collective bargaining, political science and public administration. Mr. Cary also taught at the Labor College, Empire State, SUNY, in the Local 3, IBEW, electrical apprentice associates degree program.

Throughout his legal career, Mr. Cary has been counsel or co-counsel to various multiemployer plans, including pension, annuity, profit sharing, welfare, vacation and legal services plans in the private sector and to union-administered welfare, legal services and education funds in the public sector in New York City.

On behalf of unions, Mr. Cary negotiates collective bargaining agreements, arbitrates disciplinary and contract interpretation disputes, deals with internal union matters and advises on anti-corporate campaigns. He has handled matters before a wide variety of administrative agencies, including the NLRB, NMB, PERB, OCB, OATH, IRS, DOL, INS, EEOC, NYS Division of Human Rights and NYS Departments of Health, Education and Labor. He has represented clients in many industries, including: trucking, warehousing, municipal and voluntary hospitals, nursing home, the postal service, defense contracting, building service, newspaper, retail, manufacturing, clothing, laundry and linen supply, maritime, airline, private and public sector education, bakery, grocery and produce, over the road freight, car wash and government. Mr. Cary was General Counsel to TWU, Local 100, the union for bus and subway workers in New York City. He is General Counsel to District council 1707, AFSCME, which represents workers in New York City Day Care, Head Start, Home Care and other non for profit agencies.   

Licensed to practice law in the State of New York, Mr. Cary litigates in both New York and Federal courts and is admitted to the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.

Mr. Cary is active in a number of organizations. Since 1983 he has been a member of the labor advisory board of the Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, which is an internationally respected labor history archives. He is the Treasurer of the Workers Defense League, Inc., which provides free representation to claimants at unemployment compensation insurance hearings in New York City. Mr. Cary serves pro bono as counsel to the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health, which is the leading organization in New York City promoting safe and healthful workplaces. For ten years he was the President of the Cornell University Adjunct Faculty Federation, Local 4228, NYSUT, AFT, and a delegate to the New York City Central Labor Council. Mr. Cary served on the Executive Board of the New York Labor History Association for ten years and was its President in 1985-1986. As a result of his efforts, in 1986 Governor Mario M. Cuomo proclaimed May “Labor History Month” in New York State.

Mr. Cary is a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the American Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, the AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee, the Federal Bar Council, the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans and the Association of Benefit Administrators. He is the President and a member of the Board of Directors of the Brooklyn Tech Alumni Foundation, having graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School where he majored in chemistry. The Alumni Foundation recently completed a $21 million fund raising campaign to support educational excellence at  BrooklynTech. He graduated from Brooklyn College, with a major in history and a minor in economics. He received a Masters of Public Administration from New York University where his studies concentrated on health policy, planning and administration. He earned his law degree at Brooklyn Law School and a Certificate in Employee Benefits Law from Georgetown University’s Law Center.

Mr. Cary is married with two children.

Education:

• Georgetown University Law Center, Certificate in Employee Benefits Law, 2008
• Brooklyn Law School, J.D., 1983
• New York University, Graduate School of Public Administration, M.P.A., 1979
• Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, B.A., 1975

Bar Admission:

• 1984 New York

Court Admissions:

• 1984 U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
• 1984 U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York
• 1986 U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
• 1986 U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
• 1989 U.S. Supreme Court

Bar Affiliations:

• Association of the Bar of the City of New York
• American Bar Association
• New York State Bar Association
• AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee
• Federal Bar Council

Other Affiliations:

• International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
• Association of Benefit Administrators
• Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives Advisory Board
• Workers Defense League, Treasurer
• Brooklyn Tech Alumni Foundation, Inc., President

Honors and Distinction:

• Listed, Top Rated Lawyers, Annual Guide to Labor and Employment Law, The American Lawyer, 2012
• Listed 2010 – 2015 New York Super Lawyers, Metro Edition
• “AV” rated by Martindale-Hubbell
• Who’s Who in American Law. 10th, 14th and 15th editions
• Fellow, American Bar Foundation
• Fellow, College of Labor and Employment Lawyers
• Recipient, 2011 John Commerford Labor Education Award, New York Labor History Association
• Quoted, United States v. Mason Tenders Dist. Council, 205 F. Supp. 2d 183, 190-191 (S.D.N.Y. 2002).