Mr. Stern has litigated a wide variety of cases in federal and state courts in many jurisdictions, as well as in arbitration. He has developed a reputation as a hard-nosed litigator and effective advisor who is a fast learner and someone who can quickly identify important issues to help clients make informed business decisions about resource allocation and risk assessment.
Mr. Stern devotes a significant portion of his practice to representing businesses in employment related matters, both as an advisor and litigator. He regularly advises companies on strategic matters involving employment policies, procedures, and practices, such as trade secret protection programs, wage/hour practices, bonus and other compensation programs, social media risks, and independent contractor relationships. He also regularly helps businesses manage individual circumstances that arise on a day to day basis, such as employment terminations, separation agreements, employment agreements, leave requests, employee discipline, requests for reasonable accommodations, and investigations. With respect to adversarial matters, Mr. Stern has defended employers against claims involving Title VII, ADEA, ADA, FMLA, SOX, FLSA, NDAA, IRCA, and other similar federal and state statutes, as well as various torts. Mr. Stern has appeared before the EEOC, DOL, and comparable state and local government agencies, as well as the United States Department of Justice. In addition, Mr. Stern has litigated employment claims in federal and state courts, as well as in arbitration, in multiple jurisdictions. While Mr. Stern primarily represents businesses in employment matters, he occasionally represents individuals as well.
Mr. Stern regularly works with businesses on implementing trade secret protection programs, including the strategic use of non-compete, non-solicitation, and non-disclosure agreements, as well as assignment of work product provisions and other contractual provisions designed to protect a company’s intellectual property and other interests. In addition, he often is retained to advise companies and individuals during the hiring process on potential risks when a candidate is subject to restrictions in employment agreements, as well as statutory and common law duties. Mr. Stern has litigated numerous unfair competition cases of significant value involving trade secrets, restrictive covenants, and related tort claims. He has obtained temporary restraining orders (“TROs”) and other relief for companies, as well as defeated such claims, and successfully negotiated resolutions that resulted in substantial relief for companies and/or avoided the cost of litigation.
Mr. Stern also devotes a substantial portion of his practice to representing companies in complex commercial/business disputes in federal and state courts, as well as in arbitration, across the country. His cases have involved a wide variety of contract, tort, and statutory claims, including cases involving commercial contracts, real estate disputes, civil RICO, common law fraud, the False Claims Act (“FCA”), fiduciary duties, ownership interests in privately held companies, unfair competition, bank loans, consumer protection claims, unfair lending practices, Fair Housing Act (“FHA”), Equal Credit Opportunity Act (“ECOA”), insurance coverage disputes, enforcement of arbitration provisions, representations and warranties, the disposition of assets/loan collateral, defamation, privacy rights, homeowners’ association issues, constitutional issues, mass torts, product liability claims, construction defects, professional discipline, false imprisonment, and civil rights violations.
Mr. Stern’s substantial experience litigating complex business disputes has led many clients to seek his advice on avoiding litigation. In this regard, Mr. Stern has successfully “reverse engineered” his litigation experience to become an effective advisor and advocate negotiating various business contracts, such as vendor agreements, leases, sales agreements, service agreements, teaming agreements, and subcontracts, as well as various other risk management issues. In addition, Mr. Stern has been retained as a legal advisor and an independent investigator when entities have needed to conduct highly sensitive and complex investigations into various allegations of misconduct. While many of Mr. Stern’s investigations have involved allegations of discrimination, harassment, and various allegations of sexual misconduct, he also has been retained to investigate allegations of fraud and other alleged instances of misconduct in the private sector (for privately held and publicly traded companies), university setting, and prison setting.