Right Relations at Work: Legal Wisdom for Faithful Ministry
Michael Gan & Berina Altshuler
Thursdays, October 9, 2025 – November 13, 2025
11:00 am – 12:30 pm Central (9 contact hours)
Online
Cost: $295
Register for Right Relations at Work
Clergy and boards find themselves searching for legal wisdom and the right ministerial framing when it comes time to execute contracts, resolve disputes, and negotiate compensation. Right relations from the start of employment lay the groundwork for a faithful ministry that serves the community. Michael Gan and Berina Altshuler of Peer, Gan, Gisler, and Favreau, LLP, a Washington, D.C.-based labor and employment law firm, which specializes in clergy employment matters, will guide learners through the following topics:
- How clergy employment differs legally from other kinds of employment
- Trends in clergy employment
- How to resolve disputes
- Negotiation skills and specific tools that move organizations toward pay equity
- Special legal issues for community-based clergy
Congregational and community-based clergy, religious professionals, and board members will benefit from this training which highlights the unique features of clergy employment and identifies models for organizational social justice.
About the Instructors
Michael Gan is the managing partner of Peer, Gan, Gisler & Favreau LLP in Washington, D.C., where he has represented labor organizations, individual employees, and executives in collective bargaining, litigation, and contract negotiations for more than 30 years. He is also an adjunct professor at American University’s Washington College of Law where he teaches courses on employment and labor law.Michael maintains a significant practice representing clergy from a variety of faith traditions in employment contract formation, separation, and ethics matters. Michael is a regular speaker at clergy conferences and consults with several clergy organizations on the special tax rules affecting clergy and other employment matters. Michael also guest lectures to seminarians on clergy contract negotiations and has written extensively on the clergy gender pay gap and has developed workshops and training materials in an effort to end gender-based pay inequities.
Michael is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the Boston University School of Law.
Berina Altshuler is an associate at Peer, Gan, Gisler & Favreau LLP where she advises public and private sector labor unions and represents individual employees, including clergy, in a variety of employment matters. Prior to joining PGGF, Berina served as a law clerk to Justice Ann Walsh Bradley of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Before law school, Berina worked in policy and advocacy, serving as Communications and Economic Development Director for a senior New York City Council member and working with an LGBTQ+ nonprofit.
Berina is a graduate of McGill University and the University of St. Thomas School of Law.
