Davis & Gilbert LLP

As the preeminent law firm to clients in diverse service industries, Davis & Gilbert attorneys have developed an unmatched expertise in devising and managing the Labor & Employment practices unique to these service businesses. We provide effective guidelines to help clients operate within the complex web of federal and state employment laws when making business decisions that affect employees on all levels of the organization. We also provide ongoing guidance to help clients steer clear of potential employee-related liability issues.

THE DAVIS & GILBERT ADVANTAGE
Creative environments are breeding grounds for special employment challenges that involve all kinds of issues including how to best protect a business’s most important assets – its people. Our innovative solutions to both routine and sophisticated employment concerns increasingly has made Davis & Gilbert the “go-to” firm for businesses of all kinds seeking to protect their best interests while providing a desirable environment for employees. Our attorneys have extensive experience in executive contracts, restrictive covenants, unfair competition and trade secrets. We also have extensive experience in labor relations issues and collective bargaining agreements because of our frequent dealings with SAG, AFTRA, AF of M, Writers Guild and Directors’ Guild in various matters.

OUR CLIENTS
Davis & Gilbert represents more clients than any other law firm in the advertising, marketing, communications, media, entertainment, technology, and other talent-based industries. The employment advice that we provide to the marketing communications sector applies equally to all service industries and, consequently, our employment practice has increasingly expanded to advising clients in the financing, hedge fund, fashion, publishing and hospitality industries. We serve clients in every state, from startup firms to global holding companies with tens of thousands of employees worldwide. Our Labor & Employment department represents employers across all industries as we resolve critical issues expeditiously and implement best practices policies to avoid future problems.

OUR PRACTICE
We encourage our clients to shelter themselves from liability exposure by practicing “preventive management,” which involves implementing employer/employee education, procedures and documentation, particularly during reduction of forces and complex terminations. Our attorneys work with clients to establish and maintain daily compliance with regulatory requirements in all areas of discrimination, sexual harassment and wage and hour issues. We understand the business needs of our clients and craft solutions that work from legal, operational and practical standpoints, particularly in handling daily labor and employment issues.

DISPUTE RESOLUTION
It is inevitable that some disputes arise despite all best efforts. Davis & Gilbert has earned a winning record in cases involving state and federal laws like the ADEA, the ADA, Title VII, FMLA, WARN Act, and FLSA. We have repeatedly demonstrated an ability to break impasses and minimize client damages. We also have been able to resolve an increasing number of client disputes outside of court with alternative dispute resolution through arbitration and mediation.

REPRESENTATIVE ENGAGEMENTS

• We successfully defended a media and communications recruitment agency against a former commissioned employee who claimed business costs were improperly deducted from her earnings. This case made new law. The New York Court of Appeals decided for the first time that under New York law it is legal to have commission employees on a formula by which they are incentivized to both reduce costs and increase sales.
   
• We obtained a New York state court jury verdict for our advertising agency client in a discrimination action brought by an executive whose employment was terminated as a cost-saving measure. The jury rejected all of the executive’s claims and judgment was entered in the agency’s favor.
   
• We obtained a New York state court jury verdict rejecting a gender discrimination claim brought by a former senior executive at a multi-national advertising agency.
   
• We obtained a Chicago federal court jury verdict rejecting an age-discrimination claim brought by a former senior executive of a multi-national advertising agency.
   
• We successfully moved to dismiss a $20 million claim against a major commercial bank by two former employees who had alleged that the bank breached oral employment agreements that would have entitled them to future income from the business on which they had worked.
   
• We have litigated numerous requests for injunctions relating to the enforcement of post-employment restrictive covenants, including cases involving en masse resignations, breaches of fiduciary duty and use of confidential information.
   
• We have successfully defended several companies in jury trials involving claims of employment discrimination, wrongful discharge, fraud and defamation.
   
• We successfully defended several senior investment bankers in an action brought by a major financial institution against an investment bank and its recently hired investment bankers for breach of fiduciary duties arising from the en masse departure and en masse hiring of more than 40 employees.
   
• We represented a global market leader of credit derivatives in revising and structuring offer letters, employment agreements, bonus incentives and post-employment restrictions for financial professionals.
   
• We obtained injunctive relief for a major provider of software and software services in the pharmaceutical industry prohibiting their former sales people from soliciting and servicing clients.
   
• We successfully moved to dismiss a multi-million dollar bonus claim of a former CFO of an asset management firm who sought a bonus based on implied contract, quantum merit and detrimental reliance claims.
   
• We successfully dismissed claims for tortious interference based on hiring employees with non-competes prior to discovery and incurring significant fees for our client which is a pioneer in out-of-house advertising and entertainment in sports and concert facilities.
   
• We represented the 50% owner of the CDO division of a hedge fund which started as a dispute with the hedge fund and ended in the simultaneous purchase of the other 50% of the CDO fund and the sale of the whole fund to a bank. The firm also handled the employment contract and compensation package with the bank.
   
• We handled for leading brokerage house in hiring three dozen executives from one of the largest banks in the world. No suits were filed despite the fact that the employees had restrictive covenants in their contracts and in the bank’s employee manual.
   
• We represented one of Europe’s leading corporate and investment banks on all employment and employee benefit issues relating to the acquisition of the equity prime brokerage business of a significant financial institution. The firm also handled the drafting of approximately 300 offer, retention and bonus arrangements to retain the executives in the acquired business and is providing advice on employment law issues regarding the transferred employees.
   
• We represented a new financial advisory firm on the Protocol for Broker Recruiting, an agreement among various financial institutions regarding how brokers may resign from one firm, join a competing firm and solicit customers from the prior firm without liability. We facilitated our client becoming members of the Protocol and then successfully used the Protocol to defeat a lawsuit brought against brokers who our client had hired from another firm that was a party to the Protocol.
   
• We successfully defended an investment bank when an employee sued the bank and the insurance company under the long term disability insurance policy. The case against our client was dismissed on summary judgment while the case against the co-defendant went to trial.
   
• We represented a group of financial advisors who sought to resign immediately from a major investment bank and start a competing business despite their garden leave and restrictive covenant agreements with their current employer.
• We developed a strategy for combating these restrictions and counseled the financial advisors on how to resign and immediately start their competing business without a lawsuit.
   
• We represent a leading global alternative asset management firm with regard to ongoing labor and employment counseling, employment and restrictive covenant litigation for the last ten years.
   
• We represented an investment bank in revising and restructuring its garden leave and other post-employment restrictions and drafted sample agreements for its use with private and investment bankers.
   
• We represented a major savings and loan institution on its employment law claims including a claim by a senior executive for retaliatory discharge and sex discrimination.
   
• We represented portfolio managers in the negotiation of their employment agreements and complex compensation arrangements with a multi-billion dollar family investment fund.
   
• We represented senior executives joining a global investment financial services firm in connection with potential claims by their former employer and the financial services firm’s competitor, for breach of fiduciary duty, theft of trade secrets and raiding other employees.