Member

Representative Matters

• Practice focuses on the representation of employers in recruiting, hiring and termination of employees. Litigated numerous non-competition and trade secret cases throughout the United States.
• Represents employers in the following industries:  banking, commercial agriculture, the financial services industry, hospitality and restaurants, manufacturing, and retail.
• Counsels employers on addressing and responding to workplace violence issues.
• Frequently lectures and writes on disciplining and terminating employees and the enforceability of non-compete agreements.
• Has tried 300 cases as a criminal prosecutor, 30 of those cases were tried to a jury.
• Successfully tried a NLRA procedural arbitration for an employer concerning timeliness of selecting an arbitrator per a collective bargaining agreement.
• Successfully tried a FINRA wrongful termination and breach of contract arbitration. Defended the broker-dealer client in a three-day arbitration and obtained a complete dismissal of the former employee's claims.
• Co-counsel on an NASD employment arbitration case. At the conclusion of the arbitration hearing, the client was awarded $1.5 million for breach of contract. In addition, the arbitrators dismissed the respondent's counterclaims for wrongful termination, breach of contract, defamation, and conversion.
• Represented NYSE/NASD broker-dealer in multi-state, multi-jurisdictional hiring dispute with a competitor. The competitor filed motions for temporary restraining orders in Illinois, New York and Texas against the client. Supervised local counsel and ultimately negotiated a settlement that resulted in the dissolution of the temporary restraining orders.
• Co-counsel on an employment discrimination lawsuit brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 for failure to hire. Drafted a successful summary judgment motion defeating the Plaintiff's racial discrimination claims. Exum v. United States Olympic Committee and United States Anti-Doping Agency, Case No. 00-RB-1421.
• Drafted a successful brief in opposition to a petition for writ of certiorari pending before the Colorado Supreme Court involving failure to amend a complaint to add a new party prior to the expiration of the applicable statute of limitations. Kim v. Dickey, 2009 WL 738861, Colo., March 23, 2009 (NO. 08SC721).
• Briefing and successful oral argument in Dillon S. Sweeney v. United Artist Theatre Circuit, Inc., Colorado Court of Appeals, 119 P.3d 538, cert. denied (Colo. App. 2005). Successfully argued that the Colorado Premises Liability Act was the exclusive remedy available to a Plaintiff who was injured when tile fell from a movie theater ceiling, thus barring the Plaintiff's breach of contract and negligent breach of contract claims.

Professional Activities

• Admitted to practice before all Colorado and Arizona state courts, the United States District Court for the District of Colorado and the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
• Member, Colorado, American and National Bar Association, Defense Research Institute, National Employment Law Council, and Sam Cary Bar Association
• Member, American Bar Association Labor and Employment Section
• Member, Colorado Bar Association Labor and Employment Law Committee
• Board Member, Sam Cary Bar Association, 2009-present
  • Immediate Past President, 2010
  • President, 2009
• Board of Trustees, Denver Bar Association, 2010-Present
• Board of Governors, Denver Bar Association, 2008-Present
• Member, Colorado Bar Association Officer Nomination Committee, 2006-Present
• Member, University of Colorado School of Law Alumni Board, 2006-Present
• Member, American Bar Association Minority Counsel Program, 2004-Present
• Member, Defense Research Institute, Legal Professionalism Committee, 2007

Publications and Presentations

• Author, "The Significant Changes to the Americans With Disabilities Act," Texas Reporter, Vol. 8, Issue 166, December 1-14, 2008
• Program chair, "Terminations, Reductions in Force, Mergers and Acquisitions: The Impact Upon Employees From One Organization to Another," September 6, 2007, Chicago, Illinois, Fall Minority Counsel Program, American Bar Association
• Moderator and panelist, "The Impact of the Patriot Act on Employers," Lorman Education Seminars, June 11, 2004, Denver, Colorado
• Author, "Can the Corporate Law Firm Achieve Diversity," National Black Law Journal, Vol. 13, No. 3 (1994)

Education

• Juris Doctor, University of Colorado School of Law, 1994
  • Associate Editor, University of Colorado Law Review
• Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Colorado State University, 1991