Dr. Eric Athey

Biography

Eric Athey is an adjunct professor at Penn State Dickinson Law, having retired from private legal practice in December 2024. He was a member of McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC, where he practiced labor law, employment law, and employee benefits law over a span of 33 years. Throughout his career, he served as co-chair of the firm's Labor Employment Group and chaired the Employee Benefits Group. He has also acted as managing partner and completed a term as President of the Lancaster Bar Association. Prior to law school, he taught Labor Relations for several semesters at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Eric's legal career has focused on counseling and representing employers in various labor and employment matters, including labor negotiations, arbitrations, and employment litigation. He has represented both private and public sector employers in state and federal courts, as well as before administrative agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the National Labor Relations Board. He holds a J.D. degree, cum laude, from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, along with an M.S. in Labor Relations from the University of Massachusetts and a B.A. in Economics from Franklin & Marshall College.

Research Interests