Mark A. de Bernardo

Executive Director

(703) 821-2189

Mark A. de Bernardo is a Partner in the Washington, D. C. Region office of Jackson Lewis, one of the premier labor and employment law firms in the country with nearly 400 labor and employment lawyers representing management nationally in 25 offices. He concentrates his practice on substance-abuse prevention and workplace drug testing, employment litigation and counseling, senior executive terminations, labor-management relations, legislative and regulatory representation, and alternative dispute resolution. He also has extensive experience in the management of employment-related class actions.

Mr. de Bernardo has testified more than 40 times before Congress and various federal and state regulatory agencies and legislative committees on employment and labor law issues. He has submitted 11 amici curiae briefs to the United States Supreme Court, and nearly 30 amici briefs overall to various courts on behalf of trade association, business coalition, and corporate clients. He has represented more than 30 Fortune 200 corporations; five federal executive branch agencies; the states of Kansas, Louisiana, and California; the governments of Japan, Spain, and the Bahamas; and nearly 20 national trade associations.

He is the founder and Executive Director of the Institute for a Drug-Free Workplace, a national coalition dedicated to promoting and preserving the rights of employers and employees in effective substance-abuse-prevention programs, and the president of the Foundation for Drug Education and Awareness.

Mr. de Bernardo is the author of four state drug-testing laws, and the only workplace drug testing law endorsed by the President’s Commission on Model State Drug Laws. Among the many clients he has represented on drug-testing issues are the National Basketball Association, the U.S. House of Representatives, and more than 20 Fortune 200 corporations.

On the substance-abuse-prevention issue, Jackson Lewis drafts, reviews, and revises policies and attendant employer documents (including DOT-compliant policies); provides manager and supervisor training; designs and conducts employee education and awareness programs; represents employers in arbitration; litigates in defense of challenges to corporate policies and actions; negotiates collective bargaining agreement provisions; performs compliance audits; and advises employers on state and federal statutory and regulatory requirements.

In the broader employment and labor law fields, Mr. de Bernardo is the author or co-author of 18 books on employment and labor law topics, including drug testing in the workplace.

He is a frequent speaker at conferences, and has appeared on the Today Show, Good Morning America, Crossfire, Larry King Live, and the FOX, ABC, CBS, and NBC evening news. Mr. de Bernardo has been quoted in such publications as: Time, Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.

Mr. de Bernardo is active in a number of professional and community organizations. He has served as Special Counsel for Domestic Policy and Director of Labor Law for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He is the founder and General Counsel for the Council for Employment Law Equity. He was appointed, and twice reappointed, by the Japanese government as the sole American management representative to The Japan Institute of Labour.

His community activities include serving on the board of directors of the Oblates of Saint Francis de Sales. He is a member of the Gonzaga College High School Fathers’ Club, and has served on The Hunger Project’s Global Investment Committee, and the executive committee of the Lido Civic and Community Club.

Mr. de Bernardo is a member of the District of Columbia Bar and the U.S. Supreme Court Bar, and is active in the American Bar Association and its Committee on Practice & Procedure Under the NLRA

Mr. de Bernardo was awarded a B.A. cum laude from Marquette University in 1976, and a J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1979.

Contact Mr. de Bernardo regarding the Institute's program of action, media inquires, legal issues and developments, possible legal representation of management on policy, drug-testing, and substance-abuse-prevention issues, and concerning general information about the Institute.

Matthew F. Nieman Counsel (703) 821-2189 Matthew F. Nieman is an attorney in the Washington, DC Region Office of Jackson Lewis, a preeminent labor and employment law firm with nearly 400 lawyers in 21 offices. His practice covers a broad spectrum of workplace related issues including workplace drug-testing issues.

He is Counsel for the Institute for a Drug-Free Workplace, a national coalition dedicated to promoting and preserving the rights of employers and employees in effective substance-abuse-prevention programs. Mr. Nieman, with Mark de Bernardo and his other colleagues Jackson Lewis conduct substance-abuse-prevention program audits; draft, review, and revise substance-abuse-prevention and drug-testing policies, manager and supervisor guidelines, and attendant employer documents (including DOT-compliant policies); provide manager and supervisor training; design and conduct employee education and awareness programs; represent employers in arbitrations; litigate in defense of challenges to employer policies and actions; negotiate collective bargaining agreement provisions; perform compliance audits; and advise employers on state and federal statutory and regulatory requirements. Mr. Nieman served as an active-duty U.S. Army Judge Advocate at Fort Benning, Georgia and at Camp Liberty, Baghdad, Iraq. During his time in the military, Mr. Nieman provided counsel to senior commanders on drug-abuse and drug-testing issues, and prosecuted numerous drug cases in military courts. His prosecutions ranged from simpler use and possession cases to more complex distribution and conspiracy charges relating to both illegal and prescription drugs. In addition, in accordance with the Army Substance Abuse Program, Mr. Nieman was responsible for – and provided legal training to – unit drug testing personnel. Mr. Nieman is a member of the Virginia Bar. Mr. Nieman was awarded a B.S. in Industrial & Labor Relations from Cornell University in 1998, and a J.D. from the William & Mary School of Law in 2001. He and his wife Amy reside in Ashburn, Virginia.