Litigation
Our business litigation practice involves all aspects of commercial litigation representing large companies to small businesses and start-ups. This litigation practice includes a wide variety of types of actions that are business to business and consumer actions against business defense in all venues that our clients are involved. We provide representation in the various administrative boards, governmental agencies, domestic dispute tribunals, alternative dispute tribunals, state and local courts as well as the various United States Courts of Appeals and United States Supreme Court where necessary. These matters include:
- Breach of Contract
- Business to Business Litigation
- License and Infringement Claims
- Labor and Employment Issues
- Media and Entertainment
- Partnership Disputes
- Restrictive Covenants
- Securities Litigation
- Shareholder Actions
- Startups and Closely Held Companies
- Trademark and Trade Name Litigation
- Unfair Competition Claims
Alternate Dispute Resolution
Our trial attorneys not only have experience in alternative dispute resolution, but are trained mediators and arbitrators. This experience provides unique insight in assessing when alternative dispute resolution through arbitration or mediation may be suitable or contractually required. Determining when to bring a matter before a court or seek alternative remedies along with the timing of such decisions is quite often a strategic decision. Having the experience and training provides our attorneys with the ability to work in-depth with the client and in-house counsel in making these decisions.
Arbitration is the process where litigants seek to resolve disputes before an arbitrator or arbitrators without utilizing the court process. In some circumstances, this is a cheaper and more expeditious method of resolution which in some contractual situations, may be compelled. Arbitration can occur in the domestic arena or the international arena.
Mediation is the process where the parties seek to negotiate in a formal setting to resolve a dispute. A neutral person is appointed to act as the mediator assisting the parties in negotiations and resolution. Understanding the entire litigation process, the client’s needs and goals, and experience in all facets of litigation is imperative when representing clients in mediation. Our attorneys not only have the experience, but are goal oriented for the client.
Conciliation is a process widely used in Europe and frequently occurs informally in the United States. This is a process where a neutral acts as a mediator in an informal setting by meeting with the parties independently. This process takes longer than a traditional mediation as the setting is not designed to be in a neutral location with a date certain. Conciliation is a negotiation process that engages the neutral as a go between with the parties in order to facilitate a resolution.
Employment and Labor
Labor and employment issues arise in every aspect of businesses regardless of size. These issues occur with respect to contractual provisions with employees, directors and officers. There are a host of state and federal laws governing the employment aspects of client’s businesses. Our litigation group has been very successful in defending single action employment claims as well as collective and class actions against employers. We also conduct internal investigations to discover violations and assist in resolutions pre-litigation for clients. These involve:
- Americans with Disability Act (ADA)
- Collective and Class Actions
- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Claims (EEOC)
- Employment Compensation Issues
- Federal Labor Standards Act Claims (FLSA)
- Federal Medical Leave Claims (FMLA)
- Internal Investigations
IP Litigation
Intellectual property can be a source of revenue and substantial risk. Having a litigation team that understands the revenue protection, along with intellectual property protection attorneys, provides us with a knowledge base that can assist clients in dealing with a host of issues, including infringement, patents, trademarks, copyrights, licensures and false advertising and unfair competition.
Litigation practice includes all areas of state and federal litigation, including prosecuting and defending claims in the federal circuit as well as administrative courts of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the U.S. International Trade Commission. These types of claims include:
- Data, Privacy and Security
- False Advertising
- Import Bans
- License Infringement Claims
- Media and Entertainment
- Patent Infringement Claims
- Trademark and Trade Name Litigation
- Unfair Competition Claims
Securities and Enforcement
A business can easily find itself in a shareholder threat or litigation, regulatory scrutiny and securities related litigation. Our practice involves a host of securities related attorneys which provide support to the litigation attorneys. While we strive to assist our clients in avoiding issues before they begin, securities issues do occur and we are able to represent our clients throughout all aspects of securities issues. These occur from shareholder litigation to local governmental issues as well as Securities Exchange Commission issues. We also deal with our clients in white collar criminal defense, corporate compliance, governance under the Sarbanes-Oxley governmental affairs. This practice area includes:
- Securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation
- Securities Regulatory Practice
- Challenges to mergers and acquisitions and other transactional litigation
- Investigations and enforcement actions
- Corporate governance disputes and D&O claims
- State and Local Government Litigation
Government and Regulatory Litigation
Governmental and regulatory litigation occurs in all areas of business from local state to federal and global jurisdictions. These can range from state attorney general’s seeking to bring actions against business clients as well as the Federal Trade Commission, Food and Drug Administration and various state and national consumer agencies. There are also local issues that businesses must deal with which can sometimes be more cumbersome than dealing with larger agencies. We engage our clients from the beginning to avoid catastrophic consequences while at the same time keeping in mind that our client’s business needs to continue to operate. These areas include:
- Government Regulation of Advertising and Consumer Products
- Government Regulation of Commercial Products
- Governmental Investigation Compliance Civil and Criminal
Corporate Governance and Shareholder Litigation
Our business litigation attorneys are well diverse in dealing with disputes that arise between partners, officers and shareholders. We have extensive experience in dealing with avoiding and resolution of disputes. When required, we have the expertise to prosecute and defend cases involving corporate governance, shareholder disputes and disputes involving officers, directors and members. Our experience also includes the protecting shareholders and members of corporations and LLCs from actions seeking to challenge the corporate identity seeking personal liability. These disputes include:
- SEC reporting and compliance
- Claims arising out of mergers, acquisitions, takeovers and contest for control of private or public companies, including leveraged buyouts
- Conducting Internal and external investigations
- Derivative actions by shareholders
- Director and Officer Liability including fiduciary compliance for public, private and nonprofit corporations
- Disputes between partners and members of Limited Liability Companies;
- Disputes concerning the dissolution of businesses
- Professional liability claims concerning legal or accounting issues
Securities Defense
We have the capabilities to provide our clients with sophisticated securities and financial regulatory defense representation that is founded on substantial experience representing clients in high-stakes, high-profile securities-related investigations and enforcement actions. We understand how disruptive and potentially damaging a regulatory investigation can be to a client’s business and industry reputation. We focus on creating an effective strategy to minimize the chances of an investigation turning into an enforcement action. Our lawyers have represented clients in countless hours of sworn testimony before the SEC, FINRA and other regulatory and governmental agencies. Our approach to representing clients in connection with sworn testimony is simple – prepare our clients properly and thoroughly before testimony to ethically and legally limit and mitigate enforcement exposure. We use the experience garnered through years of representing clients in enforcement actions to anticipate regulatory posture, strategy and tactics to provide our clients with the knowledge – and confidence – to provide truthful on-the-record statements to enforcement authorities that convey maximum defensive positioning.
Selected Securities Defense Services:
- SEC Audits and Examinations
- SEC Enforcement Defense (strategy development, subpoena response & case resolution)
- Sworn testimony preparation and defense
- FINRA Audits and Examinations
- Securities litigation
- State Securities Regulatory Defense
- Receiverships and Crisis Management
E-Discovery and Information Risk
Electronic Discovery, Information Risk and Data Management are growing and relatively new areas in the litigation arena. This can be overwhelming without guidance and management of the electronic production of information in litigation. Our litigation team has the experience and knowledge to manage electronic discovery without complete disruption of business operations. We work directly with our clients and in-house counsel to effectively comply with discovery requirements while helping the client to maintain its operations.
Information and Risk and Data Management are often the subject of litigation and without effective strategies such can have disastrous results. Proper guidance and systems checks are keys in avoiding such litigation, but breaches do occur both internally and externally within a client’s business. Our litigation team is adept at the changes in technology and understanding of dealing with the constant development in this area of litigation. We immediately assess the details of the causes and devise a plan to deal with claims that result which often come from state and federal agencies as well as consumers.
Global Disputes
A global economy requires a litigation team that is able to draw from resources that crosses borders. We have litigation capabilities not only national-wide, but affiliations globally to assist our client in cross-border disputes. These disputes quite frequently end up before international arbitral bodies. We have extensive experience in dealing with arbitrations and similar organizations such as the AAA and JAMS. Our international affiliations allow us to provide assistance when forms of dispute resolution end up beyond the borders of the United States.
Tax and Tax Controversy
Our tax and tax controversy practice consists of experienced lawyers in dealing with the areas of tax law and tax criminal law. Tax disputes and tax litigation occur in not only the federal level, but the local and state levels as well. We represent businesses with their local tax issues as well as state and federal tax issues. We also represent high net worth individuals with respect to trusts and estates in all aspects of their sophisticated tax matters and litigation and disputes that arise from these matters. We have close cooperation between our international offices and national offices assisting us in compliance and tax related solutions.
Breach of Contract and Business Torts
Business disputes are a part of the business climate whether it is business to business litigation, disputes between partners or shareholders, issues within startup or closely held companies, disputes with officers and directors or dealing with employment restrictive covenants or theft of Trade Secrets. We have a breadth of experience dealing with various industries and wide variety of organizational structure. Our goal with all clients is to engage in problem avoidance through proper guidance and structure organization. With our experience in our transactional based practice, we are able to provide representation in all aspects of business disputes.