Alsher Retires After Five Decades
Attorney Bennet Alsher looks back on his evolution in labor law and on events that affected the management-union relationship along the way.
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This December, Bennet Alsher announced his retirement after a 50-year career in labor law.
Growing up in Elkins Park, Penn., a suburb of Philadelphia, he graduated from Cheltenham High School, which is the same high school that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended two years prior. He then graduated from the University of Rochester (1973) with a double major in history and political science. After working different jobs and traveling, including two months on a kibbutz in Israel in 1974, he went onto Emory School of Law, graduating in 1978.
Alsher came to labor law “by osmosis” because his father worked for the National Labor Relations Board, in various cities, but mostly in Philadelphia.
“Labor law seemed like an interesting and dynamic area of law,” he recalled. After a year at a general practice firm, he began his career at Elarbee Clark & Paul, a boutique management-side labor law firm. In 1982, that firm split, and Bennett became a partner at Clark Paul Hoover & Mallard, also a management-side labor law firm. In 1995, CPH&M merged into Ford & Harrison, where he practiced labor and employment law through 2023. When he joined Ford & Harrison in 1995, the firm had three offices and approximately 40 lawyers. Today, the firm has about 200 lawyers and more than 25 offices throughout the U.S. His job involved a great deal of traveling, particularly early in his career. This work took him all over the U.S. and into Canada handling cases and matters in over 40 states.
Over the years, his practice evolved from traditional (arbitrations, collective bargaining with unions) to employment law on the management side. He credits a mentor for advising him that “management-side attorneys could do more good for employees than any union ever did.”
Today, unions represent fewer than 10 percent of private sector employees.
How will such a diligent focused work horse spend his newfound free time? Alsher said, “I have time to pursue other interests: travel, reading, enjoying my very patient wife, Paula, our children, and grandchildren, spending more time doing volunteer work. Effective 1-1-2024, I’ll be fully retired.”
Looking back at what sustained his values and practice, Bennett advises the following for new attorneys:
* Treat your colleagues, your clients, and your opposing counsel with respect and consideration.
* Never compromise your ethics or your integrity.
* Don’t discuss sex, religion, or politics with your clients (unless relevant to your case).
* Be on time.
* Under promise; over deliver.
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