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Sandy is a commercial litigator and business counselor with particular experience in antitrust compliance and competition-related disputes.  He has successfully defended clients accused of monopolization and attempted monopolization, trade secrets misappropriation, and violations of state and federal unfair competition laws.  He regularly represents clients in investigations and enforcement actions brought by U.S. competition agencies, including merger review and enforcement.  Sandy’s trial experience extends to disputes arising out of breach of contract, including breaches of restrictive covenants and proprietary information agreements.  He has litigated such cases to successful bench and jury verdicts.

Sandy also has considerable experience advising corporate counsel on issues relating to the attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine, and has written and spoken extensively on the subjects.  He has counseled numerous large corporate law departments on privilege and work-product challenges in internal investigations.

Sandy is the Vice Chair of the Commercial Litigation group and previously managed the firm's Eastern Commercial Litigation Group.  He serves on the firm’s Executive Committee. 

Representative Matters

• Litman, Trustee  v. Toll Bros., Inc. –  No. 1:06cv476 (E.D. Va. 2006) (Ellis, J.); No. 07-1011 (4th Cir. 2007) (per curiam) – Summary judgment ruling in favor of national home builder in contract dispute; affirmed by appeals court following oral argument.

• Baker v. Field – No. CL05-001284 (Circuit Court of Alexandria, Va., 2006) (Kloch, J.) – Trial verdict in favor of derivative shareholder plaintiffs in breach of fiduciary duty claims arising out of validity of merger transaction.

• Stockbridge v. Gemini Air Cargo - 269 Va. 609 (Va. 2005) – Successful appeal reversing trial court award of summary judgment in dispute involving share repurchase rights and effect of alleged capital impairment.

• Dynamics Commercial Funding Corp. v. Robert W. Baird & Co. – No. 208512 (Circuit Court of Fairfax, Va. 2004) (Wooldridge, J.) – Summary judgment ruling in favor of lessor in breach of contract dispute and award of contractual attorneys fees.

• PMI Photomagic, Ltd. v. Foto Fantasy, Inc. – (No. 3:99-CV-1356-M) (N.D. Tex. 2004) (Lynn, J.); (No. 04-1362, 04-1363) (Fed. Cir. 2005) (per curiam) – Trial victory resulting in ruling of non-infringement and declaration of invalidity of asserted patent claims; affirmed by appeals court following oral argument.

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Publications

• "California Supreme Court Upholds Sanctity of Attorney-Client Communications," Reed Smith Client Alert (December 3, 2009) (co-author)
• "The Bell Keeps Tolling," The Corporate Counselor (December 2006)
• "Protecting Common Interests," The Daily Deal (August 31, 2006)
• "Voluntary Waiver At The Barrel Of A Gun," The Corporate Counselor (February 2006)

Speeches / Presentations

• "Ethics Part II," New York In-House Counsel Seminar Series, Reed Smith, New York (June 26, 2008)

Experience

Legal Education

Undergraduate Education

Professional Admissions / Qualifications

• Virginia

Professional Affiliations

• Virginia Information Technology Investment Board - Member, Board of Directors (2005-2008)
• Virginia Innovative Technology Authority/Virginia Center for Innovative Technology – Member, Board of Directors (2003-2005)
• Potomac Valley Bank/Mercantile-Safe Deposit and Trust Company – Member, Board of Directors (2004-2007)
• Selected by his peers and the publishers of Virginia Business Magazine's Legal Elite as one of Virginia's best "Civil Litigation" attorneys for 2009.