Governor Mikie Sherrill has entered the name of labor lawyer Kevin Jarvis to serve as her Administration's Labor Commissioner.

A source said the Laborers - who were out early last year in support of Sherrill's gubernatorial candidacy - influenced the pick.

Kevin D. Jarvis is a Partner with the Firm of O’Brien, Belland & Bushinsky, which he joined in February of 2010. Kevin focuses his practice on traditional Labor Law, including contract negotiations, grievances and arbitration hearings, Unfair Labor Practice matters and ERISA litigation on behalf of various Taft-Hartley Pension and Welfare Funds.

He has appeared numerous times before the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”), the New Jersey Public Employment Relations Commission (“PERC”), the Office of Administrative Law, and State and Federal courts. Since joining the firm, he has arbitrated dozens of cases involving discipline and discharge, overtime, holiday and vacation pay in both public and private sector workforces.

He has represented municipal, county and state employees, members of law enforcement, firefighters, probation officers, correctional officers, and employees in a diverse cross-section of industries including public transportation, utilities, telecommunications, food and retail industries, manufacturing, building trades, and construction to name a few. He has also handled various matters involving pension disputes and Unemployment Insurance. Kevin is admitted to practice in Federal and State Court in New Jersey, as well as Federal Court in both the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York. He has been admitted to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Prior to joining the Firm, Kevin served almost four years as Chief of Staff at the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development. As one of the largest departments in State government, the agency employed approximately 3,700 employees with a combined state and federal budget of over $600 million annually. As Chief of Staff, he oversaw all areas of the Department, including Administration and Finance, Human Resources and Labor Relations, Legal and Regulatory Affairs, Labor Standards and Safety Enforcement, which included Prevailing Wage Act enforcement, and Internal Audit. He regularly assisted the Commissioner in coordinating departmental policy with the Governor’s Office and Legislature.

Prior to joining the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Kevin was a litigator with another New Jersey-based firm where he represented hundreds of workers, many from the building trades, who had been injured due to their workplace exposure to asbestos. He also represented railroad workers injured by their workplace exposure to asbestos, diesel exhaust fumes and other carcinogens before numerous State courts.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts in History and English from Rutgers University in 1993, and a Juris Doctor degree from Seton Hall University School of Law in 2001. His father is a lifelong member of IAM Local 1812 in Vineland.