Attorneys

Mr. Wirenius joined Whiteman Osterman & Hanna LLP in October 2024, after a decade at the New York State Public Employee Relations Board (“PERB”), serving as Deputy Chair (2014-2016) and then as Chair (2016-2024).  Between his service at PERB and other neutral functions, he has twenty years experience as a neutral in labor and employment matters.  John’s experience as a litigator includes appellate litigation in labor and employment matters, civil cases ranging from entertainment litigation, and First Amendment cases, including one decided by the United States Supreme Court.  He also is an experienced defender in criminal appellate matters. He has been a member of the United States Supreme Court Bar since 2023 

John spearheaded the Rules Revision to bring New York State’s Private Sector law, the State Employment Relations Act (SERA) into compliance with the Farm Laborers Fair Labor Practices Act (FLFLPA), which gave farm laborers in New York State the right to union membership and representation.   

John was also the editor and a contributor to The Taylor Law at 50, (NYSBA, 2019), a volume which preserved all of the proceedings and presentations at the Conference celebrating the achievements of the law and noting its blemishes.  

John is admitted to practice in New York State.

John is the author of many law review articles most recently, “Total Eclipse of the Court: The Impact of State Government Responses to the Supreme Court’s Decision in Janus v. AFSCME Will Eclipse its Direct Impact, 36 Hofstra Lab. & Emp L.J., 55-122 (Co-authored with Sarah Cudahy & William A. Herbert, (2019), and “The Ethics of Non-Lawyer Advocacy: Expectations, Rules, and Complications”, 2 Int’l Comp., Policy & Ethics Law Review,  pp. 777-801 (2019).  John is also a contributor to the forthcoming edition of Lefkowitz on Public Sector Labor Law (2024).

First Amendment, First Principles: Verbal Acts and Freedom of Speech (Holmes & (Meier, 2004).

A Companion to Anthony Trollope, Nicholas Birns & John Wirenius, McFarland, 2021, and Phineas At Bay: A Novel, John F. Wirenius

John attended Fordham College in the Bronx. He graduated summa cum laude in Honoris Causa and was Valedictorian at Graduation. He attended Columbia Law School in New York City, where he assisted Professor Vivian Berger in an argument before the U.S. Supreme Court in a capital case.

John is also a Deacon at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in Manhattan, where he teaches online seminars on matters ranging from theology, C.S. Lewis and the Inklings, among other subjects tending to understanding Anglicanism.

He is married to Catherine P. Isobe, who is a lawyer at Brooklyn Legal Services.