PBS Foundation

About PBS Foundation

William L. Cole

Partner & Co-Chair, Labor & Employment, Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp, LLP

William "Bill" L. Cole is a partner in the Los Angeles-based law firm of Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp. Cole is a partner and Co-Chair of the Labor and Employment practice group. He is also a member of the MS&K Governing Board and a former Managing Partner from 1991-1997.

He serves as lead counsel in numerous employment discrimination, whistle blower, ERISA, LMRA Section 301 and wrongful termination cases, labor arbitrations, National Labor Relations Board hearings, and other administrative proceedings.

He also serves as lead counsel defending multiple employers in wage and hour and employment discrimination actions and as chief negotiator in numerous private and public sector collective bargaining negotiations. In addition, he provides representation of multi-employer Taft-Hartley Benefit Plans and representation of and advising employers regarding ERISA issues. His industry focus includes: entertainment industry, aerospace, retail, manufacturing, real estate, public employers, power generating companies, and computer hardware and software companies.

Professional highlights include the following accomplishments: ongoing representation of several significant benefit plans providing both day-to-day and litigation counsel; represented major motion picture and television companies in class action wage and hour and age discrimination cases; represented a large aerospace corporation in several wrongful discharge and employment discrimination litigation and arbitration matters; successfully represented major motion picture company in jury trial of Federal Section 301 action; successfully represented employers in numerous arbitrations including industry-wide cases for multiple employers; served as chief negotiator for a major beer distributor in talks with the Teamsters Union; and negotiated national collective bargaining agreements for a group of television producers.

Cole is a member of the American Bar Association (Management Co-Chair of the Sports and Entertainment Committee of the Labor and Employment Law Section, 2001 - Present) and the Los Angeles County Bar Association (Member, Executive Committee, Labor Law Section, 1989-1990). His Court Admissions include the state of California in 1977; USDC, Central District, 1977; U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth, Fifth, and Ninth Circuits; and USDC, Eastern District. Los Angeles Magazine named Cole to its "Best Lawyers in America" list in 2005 and 2006.

Cole earned his J.D., Order of the Coif, from Standard University in 1977 and his B.A. from the University of California at Irvine, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, in 1974.