John is a partner in the Labor and Employment Law Practice Group of Kaufman & Canoles. His practice emphasizes litigation and litigation-avoidance strategies, and regularly includes discrimination and harassment matters, executive contracts, trade secret and computer crime cases, and advice and litigation on covenants restricting post-employment competition.
Representative Matters
· Defended multiple federal court "collective" actions alleging unpaid overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act, as well as other single-employee claims
· Successfully enforced many covenants restricting competition by former employees, including obtaining preliminary injunctions against unfair competition and money damages for violation of a valid covenant
· Successfully defended against many attempts to enforce invalid covenants, either by negotiated resolution or litigation, on behalf of new employers
· Serves as national counsel for large insurer providing advice on employment grievance arbitration agreements to insurer's clients nationwide
· Successfully defended employers against many claims under federal anti-discrimination laws, including obtaining summary judgment for an employer in a race case where a supervisor admittedly used "the n-word"
Recognition and Honors
· Best Lawyers in America, 1995-2012
· Norfolk Labor and Employment Lawyer of the Year; Best Lawyers in America, 2010
· America's Leading Business Lawyers; Chambers USA, 2004-2011
· Virginia Super Lawyers, Corporate Counsel Edition; Law & Politics, 2008-2010
· Virginia Super Lawyers; Law & Politics, 2007-2011
· Virginia's Legal Elite; Virginia Business Magazine, 2009-2011
· AV® Rated; Martindale-Hubbell
· Past member; Virginia State Bar faculty on Professionalism
· Current member; Virginia State Bar faculty on Professionalism for Law Students
· "Lawyer of the Year;" Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association, 1996
Associations
· Virginia Bar Association; Chairman, Section on Labor Relations and Employment Law, 2006-2007; Member, Governing Council, Section on Labor Relations and Employment Law, 1997-2009
· American Bar Association; Labor & Employment, Litigation
· District of Columbia Bar
· Virginia Continuing Legal Education Advisory Committee on Employment Law
Webinars
· Employment and Labor Law in the Age of Obama
· Protecting Company Confidential Information Webinar
· Wage & Hour Alert Webinar: The Rise of the FLSA Collective Action