JAMES W. ROEMER, JR. was born in Albany, New York on September 27, 1944. He received his preparatory education at the University of Buffalo, graduating with a B.A. in Economics in 1966. He received his law degree from Albany Law School in 1969 and joined the firm of DeGraff, Foy, Conway and Holt-Harris. As an associate in that firm, he was fully involved in public sector relations law on behalf of the Civil Service Employees Association ("CSEA") and, in 1976, he formed the firm of Roemer and Featherstonhaugh, which served as General Counsel to CSEA from 1976 to 1987. Since 1987, Mr. Roemer has served as labor relations counsel for more than thirty municipalities and other public entities in New York State, including cities, towns, villages, counties, school districts, public authorities, and State authorities. Mr. Roemer has negotiated more than three hundred collective bargaining agreements on behalf of public sector municipal clients and has very successfully appeared before the Public Employment Relations Board, innumerable arbitration panels, various State Supreme Courts, the Appellate Division and the Court of Appeals on a variety of public sector labor relations and public retirement system issues. He is a founding partner of the firm of Roemer Wallens Gold & Mineaux LLP in 1995.