Richard F. Vitarelli is a Principal in the Hartford, Connecticut, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. Part of the firm’s national labor practice, he has over two decades of experience representing employers nationally in strategic labor relations, collective bargaining, and union organizing, including in the context of mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructuring and contract administration. He serves as general labor and employment counsel for employers and multi-employer associations in various industries, including construction, manufacturing, health care and senior living, airline, commercial laundry, transportation and distribution, state and local government.

Mr. Vitarelli's practice includes handling sophisticated collective bargaining matters, including national, multi-employer and industry agreements.  His practice also includes representation of employers in multi-employer benefits matters, including multi-employer pension withdrawal liability and Taft-Hartley Fund collection matters. His labor relations practice includes representation of employers covered by the National Labor Relations Act and the Railway Labor Act.

He regularly represents and advises clients in preventive labor relations and counter-organizing. For several years, he served as a managing author of the "Employer’s Guide to Union Organizing Campaigns" (Wolters-Kluwer/Aspen Publishers).

Before joining Jackson Lewis, Mr. Vitarelli served as practice group leader for a major regional firm, overseeing the labor, employment, benefits and immigration practice. He also served as outside general counsel to the Waterbury Connecticut Financial Planning and Assistance Board, a state takeover board created to restructure finances, labor agreements and post-employment benefits. He was a Commissioner of the Connecticut State Ethics Commission from 1997 to 2004 and served as Vice-Chair and Chair-Elect from 2002 to 2004.

While attending law school, Mr. Vitarelli was a member of the Suffolk Transnational Law Review.