by Rita Frankenberry
for Virginia Business December 2004
Burt
Whitt greeted the “one-trick pony” comments
with a shrug. He knew that eventually
he would have the last laugh.
After
graduating from University
of Virginia Law
School in 1978, Whitt joined
a predecessor firm of Kaufman & Canoles.
He began developing a practice
group focused on the needs of
employers. “Coming out
of law school this area didn’t
really have any lawyers that
specialized in just representing
management,” Whitt says.
He
still serves as chairman of
Kaufman & Canoles’ labor
and employment practice group.
When the group began, Whitt says
other lawyers in the Hampton
Roads region worked part time
in this area of law or represented
both employers and employees. “Some
lawyers would kid me about being
a one-trick pony, but that didn’t
offend me,” Whitt says. “All
you have to do is ask one lawyer,
and they’ll tell you that
that one trick is a pretty big
trick.”
Early
in law school, Whitt discovered
an interest
in labor and employment issues.
He was very comfortable with
subjects philosophically. “It’s
very easy to paint employers
in a very unsympathetic way,” Whitt
says. “And I felt for employers
because I could see that in the
press. The way I see it, it could
be very frustrating for someone
to try to start a business with
all the potential risks they
face.”
Whitt
became convinced that companies
could use someone
with special skills in their
corner. “Employers needed,
and need, effective advocates,” he
says. Keeping track of developments
that might affect clients is
one way Whitt serves as an advocate.
He also brings clients up to
speed when it comes to ongoing
court cases and regulations. “I
don’t think there’s
anyone else in the whole state
who is as up on employment law
as Burt is,” says Greg
Casey, chief financial officer
of ECPI Technical College, a
computer training company based
in Virginia Beach.
Fellow
lawyers also seek out Whitt.
Michael
Glasser, a member of Glasser
and Glasser, PLC in Norfolk and
former president of the Virginia
State Bar, has retained Whitt
as his firm’s legal counsel
when labor and employment issues
have come up. “Lawyers
are generally in the best position
to know who is good, who is superb
and who they wouldn’t hire.
And Burt is a lawyer’s
lawyer,” Glasser says. “A
lot of law happens before a conflict
arises, and he gives you good
advice before an event occurs.
When I call up Burt with a question,
I get an answer.”
Since new regulations
governing overtime came out a
few months ago, Whitt says many
of the employers he advises have
started to focus on their pay
practices in an effort to avoid
future claims.
Not
surprisingly, a large part
of Whitt’s
work involves counseling clients
and training managers on compliance
with employment laws. Soon after
founding Kaufman & Canoles’ labor
and employment group, he began
offering annual law employment
updates to clients as a way of
keeping them informed and out
of court. While many law firms
now offer such updates, Whitt
says his were among the first
in Virginia. “Helping train
employers to comply with the
law helps everybody,” Whitt
says. “And that’s
a rewarding part of what we do.”
