Jessica M. Baquet is a partner, Chair of the Firm’s Trusts, Estates and Fiduciary Litigation Department and member of the Firm’s Commercial Litigation and Labor and Employment Departments. Jessica represents individuals, municipalities and institutional clients in all phases of litigation in state and federal courts and before administrative bodies. She also handles appeals to the Appellate Divisions of the New York State Supreme Court, the New York Court of Appeals and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Jessica’s wide-ranging experience makes her a true partner to clients from a case’s inception through its final appeal, and in otherwise formulating litigation-avoidance strategies. She recognizes that every client has unique goals and views her most important role in each engagement as that of a tactician and strategist.

 

In her trusts, estates and fiduciary litigation practice, Jessica represents beneficiaries, creditors and fiduciaries in proceedings before the Supreme Courts and Surrogate’s Courts throughout New York state, including those involving probate, administration, will and trust construction, inheritance rights, fiduciary accountings, discovery and turnover, contested guardianship proceedings and the removal or suspension of fiduciaries. Jessica is also experienced in estate planning and administration.

 

In her commercial practice, Jessica has specific experience in representing businesses and individuals in cases involving contract disputes, partnership and shareholder disputes, business torts, books and records demands, dissolution, RICO claims, insurance coverage issues, joint venture agreements, breaches of fiduciary duty, unfair competition claims, and breaches of restrictive covenants.

 

Jessica’s employment law practice involves the defense of employers against claims alleging discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and wage and hour violations, and in lawsuits involving the enforcement of employment and separation agreements. She also represents employers in investigations and proceedings before administrative agencies, including the New York State Division of Human Rights, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the New York State and United States Departments of Labor, and the New York State Industrial Board of Appeals.

 

As a complement to her litigation practice, Jessica routinely provides labor and employment counsel to employers of all sizes. She advises clients regarding compliance with federal, state and local laws; drafts employment contracts, severance agreements, handbooks and policies; prepares affirmative action plans and compensation analyses; and provides sexual harassment and sensitivity training.

 

Since 2018, Jessica has been a member of the Committee on Character & Fitness for the 2^nd, 10^th, 11^th and 13^th judicial districts. Jessica is also a member of the Nassau County Bar Association’s Judiciary Committee and the Board of Directors of Forestdale, Inc., a not-for-profit child welfare agency providing foster care, adoptive services and material assistance to families in need.

 

Jessica is a graduate of New York University and St. John’s University School of Law.

 

Publications

• “Jury Trials in Surrogate’s Court.” New York Law Journal, May 3, 2024.
• “Hostility as a Basis for Removal of a Fiduciary Without a Hearing.” New York Law Journal, July 6, 2023.
• “Limitation on In Terrorem Clauses.” Special Section Surrogate’s Court Committee, September 2022.
• “The Sea Changes Continues: New Amendments to NY’s Anti-Discrimination Laws.” Queens-Brooklyn Daily Eagle, August 23, 2019.
• “Why Predatory Marriage Legislation Should Draw on Judicial Guidance.” New York Law Journal, June 28, 2019.
• “Firms Should Prepare Now for State’s Paid Family Leave.” Long Island Business News, May 30, 2017.
• “Practical Considerations for Time Limited Trials.” Suffolk Lawyer, May 2017.
• “Family Responsibility Discrimination Now Unlawful in New York.” New York Law Journal, May 25, 2016.
• “Defending Hostile Work Environment Claims in the Digital Age.” New York Law Journal, May 6, 2015.
• “Defense and Indemnification of Public Employees After Lancaster.” Municipal Lawyer, Spring 2014.
• Aiding Avarice: The Inequitable Results of Limited Grounds for Spousal Disqualification Under EPTL § 5-1.2, 23
  ST. JOHN’S J.L. COMM. 843 (2008)