Strategic Defense

Experienced

Our attorneys have experience litigating cases in courts across Florida and throughout many other states.  Employment cases are often fought in federal court, and our lawyers are intimately familiar with the requirements and expectations of federal-court litigation.   In recent years, though, plaintiffs’ lawyers have been making more of an effort to tailor their claims to avoid exposure to a federal forum.  When they do, we are equally willing and able to deal with litigation in state-court forums. 

Although we are proud of our Tampa roots, our geographic footprint spreads far wider.  The firm’s lawyers often handle litigation for firm clients in state and federal courts across the country, and have been specially admitted to handle cases in a diverse array of forums ranging from Boston, Massachusetts to Detroit, Michigan to Las Cruces, New Mexico.

We have litigated cases involving a wide range of issues, ranging from straightforward employment-law matters involving claims of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation to more esoteric matters involving complex wage-and-hour issues, cutting-edge disability-law claims, and matters involving constitutional issues.  Although most employment claims are still brought by single plaintiffs, we are seeing more and more claims brought on a class or collective basis, and our attorneys have experience in defending those cases as well. 

Strategic

Our clients all have the same basic goal:  they want to be relieved of the distractions and burdens of litigation in a timely and cost-effective manner. But when you move beyond that simple goal, there are many other considerations that can affect the choices that must be made in litigation.  For some clients, cost or publicity considerations may be paramount.  For others, defending a particular exemption decision or a particular management freedom may take priority.  We make it our business to take those considerations into account and litigate the case the way it needs to be litigated for our client.  

We strongly believe in early case analysis.   Whether the matter is a new EEO charge or a lawsuit that has just been served, we strive to provide our clients with an assessment early in the process of how we assess and plan to deal with the key factors that may affect the result.  Those may include, among others:

• the laws applicable to the case;
• how our facts fit within those laws;
• the strengths and weaknesses of our witnesses;
• the nature of the forum in which it will be heard;
• the leanings of the judge or other decision-maker;
• the skill and tendencies of opposing counsel;
• the goals of the opposing party;
• the likely intensity/complexity of the litigation;
• the amount at risk;
• the organizational implications of settlement versus litigation; and
• any relevant public-relations concerns.

Of course, the fundamentals of any strategy start with making sure that the case is ready for trial.  The reality of litigation is that there will be times when even a well-founded, well-argued motion to dismiss or motion for summary judgment will not succeed.   When that happens, being prepared to take the case to trial is essential to protecting our clients’ rights.

Professional

Our clients hire us because of our reputation.  We recognize this is our stock in trade, and we do our best to maintain a reputation for skill and professionalism in every court in which we appear.  When we ask judges to rule in our clients’ favor, we need those judges to trust that we are accurately presenting the law and the facts and that our word can be relied upon.  Our goal is always to meet and exceed judicial expectations.  We want our work to be well-written, well-researched, and fundamentally sound in all respects.  Our clients have put their heart and soul into building the reputation of their businesses, and if we are going to serve as their representatives in a court of law, we want our representation of them to live up to those same expectations. 

Part of professionalism is competence to adjust to the changing technological environment.  We recognize that technology has many benefits, but it also carries risks.  We are committed to maintaining our technology and our systems in a manner that provides full security for our clients’ communications and the documents they share with us.  We will ensure that any vendors who work on our systems are reliable and committed to a high level of security.