Presents to Difficult Audiences

Benefit: You can have the assurance that people will feel like they’ve been dealt with respectfully and fairly, regardless of class or circumstance.

When a client of ours decided to change carriers in the midst of a collective bargaining agreement, they knew they had two major hurdles to overcome.  They would first need the agreement and cooperation of Union leadership and secondly, they would need to convey this change (a substantially similar plan) to staff/employees in a clear, concise, positive and unambiguous manner.

Unfortunately, the first step in the process, winning over the Union leadership, did not go as hoped as the Union attempted to block the move through legal filings.  The Union did agree to the carrier-change, however, the issue would ultimately be resolved during an arbitration process.

During arbitration hearings, which spanned a three-month period of time, Judy was called upon and was relied on heavily to advocate on behalf of our client.  In the end, our client was successful in defeating the Union’s attempt to block the change.  Judy’s deep knowledge of the industry coupled with her intimate knowledge of our client’s health plan benefit design was instrumental in securing our client’s successful outcome.

“I think there can be no more difficult an audience than an opposing attorney who is about to pounce on you with piercing cross-examination questions.  What I witnessed when Judy testified  in a labor arbitration is her ability to disarm some of the hostility and doubt that opposing counsel had and was able to very skillfully convince opposing counsel that her knowledge had a foundation to it and that the opinions that she was expressing were predicated on solid information that could be verified.

She was able to convince, at least in the forum of the litigation and arbitration, a hostile audience of the propriety of her opinions.

On a more friendly level with employees of some of my clients and with the management staff, she wins them over because she has a knack to explain things in very fundamental and understandable fashion.  I think she wins people over with just the confidence level she has in her own knowledge of the subject matter.”

Attorney Vincent F. Ragosta, Jr., Esquire

Recognizing that company-sponsored health insurance is an extremely important – we use the term “emotional” – benefit, Judy’s involvement in employee meetings was key to the successful implementation of the new carrier’s plan.  In fact, our client insisted on it.