Biography

Ariel Cudkowicz is a partner in the Wage & Hour Litigation Practice Group in Seyfarth Shaw’s Boston office. Mr. Cudkowicz’s principal area of concentration is in wage and hour matters, including federal and state wage and hour audits, and litigating collective actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act and class actions under state wage and hour laws. He specializes in representing clients in the retail industry in FLSA collective actions, and in the hospitality industry in class actions challenging the distribution of tips and service charges under Massachusetts law.

Mr. Cudkowicz represents private and public employers, throughout the United States, in administrative and court litigation under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act and under Massachusetts Wage & Hour laws for over 15 years. He has handled numerous class actions under state wage payment laws in Massachusetts and handled collective actions under FLSA throughout the country. The collective actions have involved potential plaintiffs from several hundred to over 11,000. Mr. Cudkowicz also provides advice to Fortune 100 and 500 corporations on compliance with Massachusetts and federal wage and hour laws and avoidance of litigation under those laws. He has also provided such assistance to several of the top retail and hospitality companies.

Mr. Cudkowicz’s litigation practice covers the full spectrum of litigation services, including litigation management, motion practice, jury trials and appeals before federal and state courts and administrative agencies. He has extensive experience in alternative dispute resolution proceedings, including arbitration, mediation, conciliation and summary and mini-trials encompassing most substantive areas of employment litigation.

Mr. Cudkowicz lectures on wage and hour topics for human resource specialists and is a member of the Society for Human Resources Managers, the New England Human Resources Association and the Massachusetts Restaurant Association.

Education

J.D., Georgetown University Law Center (1987)

B.A., University of Rochester (1984)

Admissions

• Massachusetts
• District of Columbia

Courts

• U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
• U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts