Menu
  • Overview
  • Awards & Recognition
  • Community, Pro Bono & Memberships
  • News, Publications & Events

Overview

Nick brings over four decades of experience to his diverse clientele and has handled cases and issues in virtually all aspects of labor and employment law. Over the course of his illustrious career, Nick developed a particular niche in labor and employment matters affecting colleges and universities, focusing especially on collective bargaining with faculty, staff and graduate student unions, proceedings before state and federal labor board agencies, arbitration cases, advice on union organizing, and management training. For example, Nick successfully litigated at the National Labor Relations Board the managerial status of full time faculty members at Tufts University Medical School and Elmira College under the standards of the Supreme Court’s Yeshiva University case. He has also negotiated dozens of initial and successor faculty, staff and graduate student collective bargaining agreements at both public and private institutions, including community colleges, private four year institutions and  R1 Doctoral research universities. As a result, Nick is one of the foremost authorities on higher education labor relations in the country and represents many institutions of higher education around the Northeastern region of the country.

In all of his work, Nick brings an acute awareness of the special dynamics of employee relations and the continual need to balance the changing interests of employees and labor unions against the vital operational needs and fiscal responsibilities of the institutions and companies he represents.  His approach to labor relations is one of thoughtful engagement and respect for the other side while nonetheless providing the highest caliber of legal advice, support and strategic analysis to ensure the best possible outcome for his clients.

The Personal Perspective

A frequent writer in the field of labor and employment law, Nick has authored or co-authored numerous articles  and law review articles on labor relations and collective bargaining, including “Revisiting U.S. Labor Law as a Restriction to Works Councils; A Key for U.S. Global Competitiveness,” Drake Law Review, Vol. 66, No. 3 (2018); “This Much I Know I Know is True: The Five Intangible Influences on Collective Bargaining,” Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy, Vol.3, Issue 1 (2012); “ The New Focus of Academic Organizing: Private Institutions Now Face Academic Collective Bargaining,” Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy  (Volume 7, December 2015);”What’s Ahead in Faculty Collective Bargaining? The New and the Déjà Vu,” Julius, Daniel J. and DiGiovanni, Nicholas Jr. Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy, Vol.4, Article 5 (Feb. 2013); “What Factors Influence the Time It Takes to Negotiate Faculty Collective Bargaining Agreements,” Julius and DiGiovanni, Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy, (Vol.8, December 2016); “Surface v. Hard Bargaining: Tilting Towards Non-Intervention,” The Labor Lawyer, Fall, 1986;”NLRB Jurisdiction Over Colleges and Universities,” William and Mary Law Review, Spring 1975 (co-author).

He has authored a book Age Discrimination: An Administrator’s Guide (College and University Personnel Association Publishers, 1989).He has also been a contributing author to Massachusetts Employment Law, (MCLE, 1999-2018); “The Aging Work Force,” (CUPA, 1993); The Judicial Guide to Labor and Employment Law Lawyers Weekly Publications, 1990; Education Law, (Matthew Bender Publishers, 1984).

Awards & Recognition

  • Chambers USA, Labor and Employment Defense firms. Individually noted annually since 2018
  • “Lawyer of the Year,” Best Lawyers, Massachusetts Employment Law – 2015
  • The Best Lawyers in America for work in: Employment Law – Management; Litigation – Labor and Employment annually since 2013
  • Super Lawyers, 2004 – present
View Archive of All Events

Memberships

  • American Bar Association (Member, Committee on the Development of the Law under the National Labor Relations Act)
  • Boston Bar Association (Member, College and University Law section)
  • Massachusetts Bar Association
  • National Association of College and University Attorneys, served on numerous committees and is a frequent speaker. Member of the Board of Directors (2008-11)
  • College and University Personnel Association-HR
  • Academy of Academic Personnel Administration

Bar Admissions

  • Massachusetts

Court Admissions

  • United States District Court, Massachusetts
  • United States District Court, Vermont
  • Federal Circuit Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

Education

  • Providence College, summa cum laude, 1970
  • Cornell University School of Law, 1973