Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P.
- Labor and Employment
- Trade Secrets
- Federal Practice
- Commercial Litigation
Brian
Brian focuses on the labor and employment law area representing management. He has considerable experience in trade secret, restrictive covenant and similar litigation relating to efforts to protect employers' assets and expertise possessed by departing employees and similar cases involving improper use of intellectual property and counsels clients on policies and practices to protect those assets. Brian has been board certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Labor and Employment Law for over 25 years.
Brian has also handled commercial litigation, including numerous construction cases involving office buildings, water and wastewater treatment plants, highways and detention facilities. In the early 1980s, he served as special counsel to the Attorney General of Texas in the Ruiz v. Estelle prison conditions litigation.
In addition to litigation, his employment practice includes design of personnel systems, policies and handbooks, advice on reductions in force and other employment terminations and investigations of alleged employee misconduct such as sexual harassment.
- Represented a major semiconductor manufacturing company against the industry leader in a trade secrets case using both actual misappropriation and inevitable disclosure theories
- Counseled clients on creation of systems to identify employees for layoff and vetting of client selections considering EEO laws
- Litigated multiple unfair labor practice charges to a settlement of withdrawal of complaint and ultimate decertification of a union for a Fortune 100 company
- Successfully defended an age discrimination suit by the EEOC involving a laid-off salesman
- Sued to enjoin use of trade secrets using a rapid action package of pleadings and expedited discovery
- Secured favorable jury verdict for client sued for failing to pay overtime to highly compensated employee
- Responded to strike suit like demand from high profile minority group threatening public claims to impact market cap
- Assisted client in maintaining non-union status in the face of organizing activity
- Defended race, national origin, sex, ADA, and age cases in federal jury trials
- Argued appeals in federal and state court of employment cases
- American Bar Association
- Federal Bar Association
- State Bar of Texas
- High Tech Litigation course, Former Course Director
- Travis County Bar Association
- Williamson County Bar Association
- Texas Bar Foundation, Life Fellow
- Travis County Bar Foundation, Founding Fellow
- American College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, Fellow
- Texas Association of Business
- Executive Committee
- Board of Directors
- Employment Relations Committee
- The University of Texas Law School Employment & Law Symposium, Former Chair
- American Employment Law Council
- American Board of Trial Advocates
- "Top 10 Texas Super Lawyers, "Texas Monthly and Texas Super Lawyers magazines (2008)
- Nation's 50 Most Powerful Employment Attorneys, Human Resource Executive and Lawdragon (2008)
- The Best Lawyers in America (Labor and Employment and Commercial Litigation)
- Super Lawyers, Corporate Counsel Edition (2008)
- Who's Who Legal: Texas (2007, 2008)
- Who's Who in Finance and Industry
- Who's Who in American Law
- Who's Who in the World
- Who's Who in America
- Chambers U.S.A., labor and employment (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and Tier 1 in 2007)
- "Top 100 Texas Super Lawyers," Texas Monthly and Texas Super Lawyers magazines (2007)
- "Top 50 Central & West Texas Region Super Lawyers," Texas Monthly magazine (2003 - 2007)
- "Top-Notch Lawyers," labor and employment law, Texas Lawyer Go-To Guide (2007)
- "Super Lawyers," labor and employment law, Texas Monthly and Texas Super Lawyers magazines (2003 - 2006)
- Lawdragon 5000 (2006)
- "Best of Business Attorneys & Corporate Counsel," Best Lawyer in Labor & Employment Law, Austin Business Journal (2005)
- "Best of Business Law," Labor and Employment Law, Austin Business Journal (2004)
- Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rated AV
- Editor-in-Chief, Texas Employment Law Handbook - A Guide for Employers, Texas Association of Business, annual publication
- Contributor, The Developing Labor Law, Labor and Employment Law, ABA Section
- "Whose Right is Most Right; Guns in the Workplace," American Petroleum Labor Lawyers Association, Denver, Colorado, September 2008
- "Labor Law Applies, Union or Not! What Nonunion Employers Need to Know About the National Labor Relations Act," 15th Annual Labor and Employment Law Conference, The University of Texas School of Law, Austin, Texas, May 2008
- "Employment Law and Union Issues, What Healthcare Lawyers Need to Know in 2007," Health Care Law, University of Houston Law Foundation, Dallas, Houston, Austin, Texas, Spring 2007
- "Financial Leadership; Alternative Fee Arrangements," presented at the 8th Annual Conference of General Counsel, Texas General Counsel Forum, San Antonio, Texas, November 10, 2006
- "Union Organizing in Your Own Backyard?" presented at the Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. Second Annual Health Law Symposium, Austin, Texas, June 9, 2006
- "Military Leave," Seventeenth Institute for Human Resource Management in Government, Austin, Texas, March 13, 2006
- "Unions and the Healthcare Industry in Today’s World," The Central Texas Chapter of the American College of Healthcare Executives, Texas Hospital Association, Austin, Texas, February 22, 2006
- "Civil Trial and Post-Trial Practice," Federal Court Practice Seminar, Federal Bar Association-Austin Chapter and the Austin Bar Association, Austin, Texas, November 17, 2005
- "Human Capital Holding Intellectual Property - Asset or Liability?" UT Executive MBA Alumni Association, Austin, Texas, September 23, 2005
- "Employees and Intellectual Property: Pro-Active Planning to Identify and Keep Key Intellectual Property," Computer Law Conference, The University of Texas School of Law, Austin, Texas June 9 - 10, 2005
- "Internal Investigations - Investigating Employee Complaints and Misconduct," Travis County Bar Association meeting, Austin, Texas, April 14, 2003
- "Mediating Sexual Harassment Claims - The Perspective of the Employer," 23rd Annual Employment Relations Symposium of the Texas Association of Business and Chambers of Commerce, San Antonio, Texas, July 19 - 20, 2001
- "Employment and Intellectual Property Law Issues that can Make or Break a Company - Raiding, Poaching & Protecting Employees with Trade Secrets and Confidential Information: Trade Secret Protection, Covenants Not to Compete, and No-Raiding Pledges Under Texas Law," Client Briefing, UT Corporate Counsel Institute, Dallas, Texas, March 9, 23 - 24, 2000; and Houston, April 13 - 14, 2000
- "The Inevitable Disclosure Doctrine: When Only a Lobotomy Will Do," Texas Employment Law Council, San Antonio, Texas, September 30, 1999
- "Independent Contractors and Employee Leasing," University of Texas 3rd Annual Conference on Labor and Employment Law, May 9 and 16, 1996
1975 - J.D., The University of Texas School of Law
1972 - B.A., Economics, Washington & Lee University
While in law school, Brian was editor of the American Journal of Criminal Law and a member of the Phi Delta Phi honor society.
- Headliners Club of Austin, Past President, Board of Directors
- Texas Association of Business, Board of Directors, Member of the Executive Committee; Employment Relations Committee




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