Robert R. Niccolini

Rob has represented employers in state and federal court throughout the country, including Maryland, the District of Columbia, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Georgia and Louisiana, as well as before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, and the U.S. Department of Labor. He has tried more than 20 cases to verdict before juries in state and federal court, and over 100 bench trials, arbitrations and administrative hearings. Recent accomplishments include:

• A defense verdict in a bench trial before the Chief Judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland on behalf of a community hospital. The case was brought under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and dealt with the right of an employer to alter work and shift schedules during FMLA leave.
• A defense verdict on behalf of a biotechnology company in a jury trial in federal court in Baltimore. The case was brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and involved the provision of sign language interpreters to a deaf employee under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
• A decision by the Fourth Circuit affirming summary judgment on behalf of a Hospital in a national origin discrimination case. The decision was authored by former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.
• A defense verdict on behalf of a Hospital in a jury trial in Maryland state court involving claims of religious discrimination by a nursing assistant who refused to comply with the Hospital’s mandatory influenza inoculation program.
• Serving as lead counsel on behalf of the City of Richmond in a federal collective and class action brought by over 800 police officers.

Education

• J.D., Vanderbilt University Law School, 1993
• B.A., summa cum laude, Vanderbilt University, 1990

Admission to Practice

• District of Columbia
• U.S. Supreme Court
• Maryland
• U.S. District Court, District of Maryland
• U.S. District Court, District of Columbia
• U.S. District Court, Eastern, Middle and Western Districts of North Carolina
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Third, Fourth, Eleventh and District of Columbia Circuits

• American Health Lawyers Association (AHLA) (President 2019-2020; Board of Directors, 2011-2021; Member, Executive Committee, 2015-2021; Chair, Programs Committee, 2018-2019; Chair, Finance Committee, 2017-2018; Chair, Membership Committee, 2016-2017; Chair, Public Interest Committee, 2015-2016; Co-Chair, Diversity+Inclusion Council, 2014-2016; Labor & Employment Practice Group, Chair, 2007-2010; Vice Chair and Co-editor, AHLA L&E Newsletter, 2004-2007)
• Adjunct Professor, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law
• Bloomberg BNA Labor & Employment Technology and Innovation Board Member (2015-2018)
• American Bar Association (Labor & Employment Section)
• Maryland Bar Association (Labor & Employment Section)
• Glen Mar United Methodist Church (Board of Trustees, 2001-2003; Building Committee, 2003-2009; Walk to Bethlehem Committee, 2010-2020)
• Family & Children’s Services of Central Maryland (Board of Directors, 1998-2008; Chair, Personnel Committee, 2005-2008)
• Family Life Center of Howard County (Advisory Board, 2002-2005)

• Ogletree Deakins Attorney Retreat – “Pulling Wellness from a Hat: The Mental Health Benefits of Magic (and other Hobbies) for Practicing Attorneys” – Houston – September 2023
• Workplace Strategies Seminar – “Honing in on Healthcare and Life Sciences: A Legal Update” – San Diego – May 12, 2023
• AHLA Annual Meeting – “Recent Developments in Employment Law for the Health Law Professional” – Chicago – June 2022
• Ogletree Deakins Workplace Strategies Seminar – “Virtual Reality: The New Litigation Landscape Post-Pandemic” – Austin – June 24, 2021
• Ogletree Deakins Webinar – “COVID-19: What Lies Ahead for Healthcare Employers” – November 16, 2020
• Ogletree Deakins Webinar – “COVID-19 Update for Maryland Employers” – April 24, 2020
• Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association Annual Conference – “Let’s Make a Deal: Strategies for Improving Outcomes in Mediation” – Washington, D.C. – January 31, 2020
• Ogletree Deakins Workplace Strategies Seminar – “What’s It Worth? Case Valuation Workshop” – Las Vegas – May 3, 2019
• Ogletree Deakins Webinar – “Be Aware and Prepare: Mental Illness and Violence in the Workplace” – January 15, 2019
• Corporate Labor and Employment Counsel Exclusive – “Case Valuation Workshop” – La Quinta – November 10, 2018
• Ogletree Deakins Workplace Strategies Seminar – “Fatal Attraction: Dealing With the Obsessive and Serial Pro Se Plaintiff” – Phoenix – May 10, 2018
• D.C. Bar – “How to Try an Employment Case to a Jury: Winning the Hearts of Jurors” – Washington, D.C. – May 2018
• Ogletree Deakins Workplace Strategies Seminar – “Avoiding Documentation Drama: Strategies for Managing and Improving Performance Documentation” – San Diego – May 5, 2017
• D.C. Bar Continuing Legal Education Program – “Whistle While You Work: Perspectives on the False Claims ACT” – Washington D.C. – October 2016
• AHLA In-House Counsel Program – “Emerging Labor and Employment Law Issues for In-House Healthcare Counsel” – Denver – June 2016
• Ogletree Deakins Workplace Strategies Seminar – “What to Expect When You’re Expecting (to be Deposed)” – Chicago – May 2016
• Fraud and Compliance Forum – “Crossroads: How to Avoid Singing the Blues at the Intersection of Labor & Employment Law and the False Claims Act” – Baltimore – September 2015
• AHLA Physicians and Hospitals Law Institute – “Recent Developments in Labor & Employment Law for Healthcare Providers” – Las Vegas – 2015
• AHLA Annual Meeting – “Disability and Accommodation in the Healthcare Workplace” – New York – 2014
• AHLA Healthcare Transactions Conference – “Labor, Employment and Benefits Issues in Healthcare Mergers and Acquisitions” – Nashville – 2014
• AHLA Webinar – “Exercising Due Care: Specialized Areas in Drafting Agreements to Arbitrate Healthcare Disputes (Employment)” – 2013
• Ogletree Deakins Workplace Strategies Seminar – “Emerging Professional Responsibility Issues in Employment Litigation” – New Orleans – 2013
• AHLA In-House Counsel Program – “Employee Data Theft in the Digital Age” – Boston – 2011
• AHLA Annual Meeting – “Employee Data Theft: A Discussion of Privacy, Liability and Litigation Issues” – Seattle – 2010
• AHLA Healthcare Seminar – “What Employers Need to Know about the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act” – Chicago – 2010
• AHLA Long Term Care and the Law Conference – “Recent Developments in Labor and Employment Law” – Miami – 2010
• Fairfax Chamber of Commerce – “What Small Employers Need to Know about Healthcare Reform” – Commerce – 2010
• Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Assoc. Conference – “Counterclaims in the Digital Age” – Washington, D.C. – 2010
• Ogletree Deakins Workplace Strategies Seminar – “Disability Discrimination: The New Risks for Employers” – Las Vegas – 2010
• AHLA Annual Meeting – “Labor and Employment Law Developments in Uncertain Times” – Washington, D.C. – 2009
• AHLA Long Term Care and the Law Conference – “Recent Developments in Labor and Employment Law” – New Orleans – 2008
• Ethisphere Webinar – “The ADA Amendments Act” – 2008
• Maryland Bar Association Healthcare Section Meeting – “Covenants Not to Compete in Healthcare: A Maryland Primer” – Baltimore – 2007
• AHLA Long Term Care and the Law Conference – “Recent Developments in Labor & Employment Law” – San Diego – 2005
• Hospital Management Training – “Managing Employees: Procedures for Legal Compliance” – Silver Spring – 2003
• Annual Meeting of the Commercial Food Equipment Services Association – “Hiring and Firing: Procedures for Avoiding Legal Liability” – Charleston – 2002
• KPMG Lecture Series – “The Electronic Workplace: Employment Law Issues in the Internet Age” – Baltimore – 2001

• November 2023 – Alternatives to the High Cost of Litigation, vol. 41, no. 10 (co-authored with Professors Deborah Thompson Eisenberg and Donna Shestowsky) – “What Matters to Employment Attorneys When Considering Online or In-Person Mediation?”
• 2023 – Health Law Handbook – “Recent Developments in Employment Law for Healthcare Lawyers”
• December 5, 2022 – SHRM Online – “Two New Maryland Laws Could Make it Harder to Defend Harassment Claims”
• 2016 (updated in 2023) – AHLA Representing Hospitals and Health Systems Handbook – “Labor and Employment”
• 2016 – Health Law Handbook – “Top Recent Developments in Labor and Employment for Healthcare”
• August 12, 2013 – SHRM.org – “Employer’s Failure to Award Paid-Leave Perk Is Not Retaliation”
• 2012 – AHLA Connections Magazine – “Religious Objections to Mandatory Influenza Vaccination Programs: Navigating the Rough Legal Waters”
• 2009 – Journal of Health and Life Sciences Law – “Disability and Accommodation in the Healthcare Workplace”
• 2009 – Maryland Bar Journal – “Covenants not to Compete in Healthcare”

• September 21, 2018 – Baltimore Sun – “Employees with mental illness can ask for help at work”
• February 6, 2017 – Bloomberg BNA – “Ogletree Lawyer Works His Magic for Health-Care Clients”
• February 3, 2017 – Bloomberg BNA – “Ogletree Lawyer Works His Magic for Health-Care Clients”
• December 13, 2016 – Food Service Director – “Is it legal to require vaccines?”
• July 30, 2015 – Law360 – “How To Survive Litigation On The Fast Track”
• April 9, 2015 – BNA Health Law Reporter – “Supreme Court’s Pregnancy Act Ruling May Impact Health-Care Employer Policies”
• January 22, 2015 – Businessweek – “Can Your Boss Make You Get Vaccinated?”
• July 18, 2014 – BNA Health Law Reporter – “EEOC, Courts Disagree on Accommodations Required for Pregnant Employees Under PDA”
• July 10, 2014 – BNA Health and Law Report – “Attorneys Talk Fraud, Affiliations And Employment at 2014 Annual Meeting”
• February 19, 2012 – The Washington Post – “Graying Workforce Creates More Complex World for Employers”
• August 5, 2010 – Washington Business Journal – “Prognosis: Merger or Die – After Health Care Reform, Physicians and Small Hospitals Race to Merge Into Larger, More Efficient Organizations”
• June 11, 2010 – SHRM.org – “ILO Focuses on HIV and AIDS in the Workplace”
• June 1, 2010 – SHRM Legal Issues – “International Labour Organization Focuses on HIV and AIDS in the Workplace”
• January 18, 2010 – The National Law Journal – “Mentally Ill Plaintiffs Hope to be Heard Now: New EEOC Rules Promise to Tilt the Legal Balance for Those Who Allege Discrimination in the Workplace”
• November 30, 2009 – The National Law Journal – “Circuit Split Over Cat's Paw Theory Seeks Supreme Court Attention”

• Acritas Star (2018-present)
• Fellow, College of Labor and Employment Lawyers (2021)
• Fellow, American Health Law Association (2023)
• Washingtonian Top Employment Defense Lawyers in Washington, D.C. (2017-present)
• Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America®
  • Employment Law – Management (2016-2025)
  • Litigation – Labor and Employment (2025)
• Washington, D.C. Super Lawyer (2013-present)
• Thomson Reuters Stand-out Lawyer (2024)
• Phi Beta Kappa
• Vanderbilt Law Review, Associate Editor (1992-1993)
• Morgan Prize for Best Law Review Note (Vanderbilt) (1993)