Taimur "Tim" Alamgir

What does Tim Alamgir do for clients?

Tim Alamgir represents employees. His practice is built around the moment a worker realizes something at their job is not legal: the paycheck that never reflects the hours, the promotion that goes to someone less qualified, the manager whose behavior everyone tolerates, the termination that arrives two weeks after a complaint.

What he does with that moment is turn it into a case an employer has to answer for. That means finding the documents, identifying the other employees affected, choosing the statute that gives you the most leverage, and pressing the claim through negotiation, mediation, or litigation in state or federal court, whichever the facts justify.

He tells clients the same thing at the first call that he will tell them at mediation: what the claim is actually worth, what it will take to get there, and what the realistic downside is. People make better decisions about their own lives when nobody is managing their expectations for them.

Why does his defense-side background matter to your case?

Because he spent years on the other side of the table, and he knows how that side thinks.

Before moving to the employee side, Tim was a senior attorney in the national labor and employment practice of an AmLaw 200 firm, where he defended employers in high-profile employment litigation. That work is not what most people imagine. Defense counsel are not primarily trying to win at trial; they are trying to control exposure. They are running numbers on how many employees a collective action could sweep in, how long the class period runs, whether the liquidated-damages multiplier applies, and what a jury in a particular county does with a particular set of facts. They are advising the company on when to settle, at what number, and what documents they hope the other side never asks for.

Tim sat in those meetings. He wrote those memos. So when he evaluates a case now, he is not guessing at what the employer will do. He is reading from a playbook he used to write. That shows up in concrete ways:

• Valuation He knows how in-house counsel and outside defense counsel build a settlement range, which means he knows when an early offer is a real number and when it is a hopeful one.
• Discovery He knows which internal records exist (timekeeping audits, payroll exports, HR investigation files, compensation-band spreadsheets), even when an employer says they do not.
• Defenses He knows the arguments employers reach for first: the independent-contractor label, the exemption classification, the “performance issues” that appear in the file only after the complaint, the arbitration clause buried in an onboarding packet. He builds the record to defeat them before they are raised.

A defense background is not a credential to hang on a wall. It is a working knowledge of how the other side builds and prices a case, applied on behalf of the person the case is about.

What kinds of cases does he handle?

Before joining the defense side, Tim was an attorney at a nationally recognized boutique plaintiff-side employment firm, where he prosecuted wage-and-hour class and collective actions along with sexual harassment, discrimination, and retaliation cases. His practice today covers the same ground.

Wage-and-hour class and collective actions

The largest category of his work. The Fair Labor Standards Act requires overtime at one and a half times the regular rate for hours worked beyond forty in a workweek, and New York Labor Law layers additional protections and a six-year lookback on top of it. When an employer gets this wrong, it almost never gets it wrong for one person, which is why these cases are often brought as class and collective actions on behalf of everyone in the same role. Common patterns include unpaid overtime, work performed off the clock before and after scheduled shifts, and misclassification of employees as exempt or as independent contractors. Under New York Labor Law § 198(1-a), a successful wage claim can carry liquidated damages equal to one hundred percent of the wages owed, in addition to the wages themselves.

Discrimination, harassment, and retaliation

Tim handles discrimination claims under Title VII, the ADEA, the ADA, the New York State Human Rights Law, and, for work performed in the five boroughs, the New York City Human Rights Law, which is construed more broadly than its federal counterpart. He represents survivors of workplace sexual harassment and assault, including cases where the employer knew and did nothing. He also brings retaliation and whistleblower claims, which are frequently stronger than the underlying complaint because the timing is documented and the employer’s motive is easier to prove.

Deadlines in this area are short and unforgiving. A federal discrimination charge generally must be filed with the EEOC within 300 days in New York, while State and City Human Rights Law claims generally allow three years to file in court.

Terminations and exits

He also handles wrongful termination cases and reviews severance and separation agreements before employees sign them. New York is an at-will state, but at-will has never meant an employer can fire you for an illegal reason, and a severance agreement signed without counsel usually releases every claim you had, including ones you did not know were worth anything.

Where is he admitted to practice?

Tim is admitted to practice law in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, and is also admitted before federal courts.

He earned his undergraduate degree from Cornell University and his law degree from George Washington University Law School.

What does he do outside of client matters?

Tim serves as counsel to the Lanqui Hongguang Association and as counsel to Long Island’s Unicorn Network. He has been published in the New York Law Journal and has been quoted on employment law issues in national and local press. He speaks regularly on employment law topics for professional and community audiences.

How does he work with clients?

Many of these cases are taken on a contingency fee basis, which means there is no fee unless there is a recovery, and case costs and disbursements are advanced by the firm and reimbursed from any recovery. The initial case evaluation is free and confidential, and the conversation is privileged whether or not you end up hiring the firm.

Tim runs a small practice on purpose. Clients speak with the attorney handling their matter rather than a case manager, and they get told what is happening even when nothing good is happening. You can read more about the firm or get in touch directly to have your situation looked at.