Jim is a nationally ranked and recognized management-side labor and employment lawyer. He represents employers in all industries in complex employment litigation and devotes the majority of his practice to managing teams of attorneys and paralegals in nationwide class and collective actions, from receipt of the complaint through discovery, class certification, and trial. He is also highly skilled in handling disputes involving restrictive covenants, misappropriation of confidential information, and claims of unlawful termination, providing strategic counsel and a vigorous defense for employers facing high-stakes matters.
Experience
Representative matters
Representative matters
Represented employer in FLSA collective action before the U.S. Supreme Court. Supreme Court entered judgment in client’s favor based on case having been mooted by client’s presenting the named plaintiff with an offer of undisputedly complete relief under Fed. R. Civ. P. 68.
Represented international food manufacturer in multiple collective actions alleging FLSA violations; plaintiffs sought alleged unpaid wages, including overtime, for time spent donning and doffing clothing and associated personal protective equipment, as well as waiting and/or walking time.
Represented national provider of waste hauling services in putative class and collective action under FLSA and state analogues. Plaintiffs sought unpaid overtime compensation as a result of, among other things, allegedly working off-the-clock and employer’s nationwide policy of deducting a 30-minute meal break each day.
Representative Experience
Represented employer in FLSA collective action before the U.S. Supreme Court. Supreme Court entered judgment in client’s favor based on case having been mooted by client’s presenting the named plaintiff with an offer of undisputedly complete relief under Fed. R. Civ. P. 68.
Represented international food manufacturer in multiple collective actions alleging FLSA violations; plaintiffs sought alleged unpaid wages, including overtime, for time spent donning and doffing clothing and associated personal protective equipment, as well as waiting and/or walking time.
Represented national provider of waste hauling services in putative class and collective action under FLSA and state analogues. Plaintiffs sought unpaid overtime compensation as a result of, among other things, allegedly working off-the-clock and employer’s nationwide policy of deducting a 30-minute meal break each day.
Represented national health care provider in series of collective and class actions in which plaintiffs sought payment for overtime compensation allegedly due as a result of company’s purported policy of automatically deducting 30-minute meal break each day.
Represented financial services entity in nationwide class action alleging misclassification of independent contractors and resulting claims for repayment of allegedly improperly withheld FICA contributions; motion to dismiss granted; affirmed on appeal by Third Circuit, 542 F.3d 59 (3d Cir. 2008), in published opinion addressing question of first impression.
Represented international pharmaceutical company in multiple nationwide class and collective actions asserting that company improperly classified its sales representatives as exempt outside sales and/or administrative employees in violation of FLSA and various state laws.
Obtained $1 million judgment in trade secret misappropriation and breach of contract action arising out of former employee’s theft of trade secrets and transfer of those secrets to competitor. Although former employee was not party to a non-compete agreement, obtained equitable relief prohibiting former employee from working for any competitor for two years and defendant competitor-employer from competing in industry for nine months.
Represented food service provider in nationwide race discrimination class action alleging race-based harassment as well as systemic discrimination in pay and promotion.
Represented retail mortgage loan company in four class and collective actions asserting that in four different corporate locations, company failed to pay its non-exempt retail loan officers for all hours worked. Company allegedly had an unwritten policy that retail loan officers were not to record hours worked in excess of 40 in a week, resulting in willful violations of FLSA. Defeated motions for nationwide certification and notice; cases proceeded individually, conditionally certified on state-by-state basis, until settlement on the eve of trial.
Represented national retailer in class action filed by EEOC alleging sexual harassment and gender discrimination. After aggressive discovery strategy, focusing on EEOC’s failure to conciliate, case settled at mediation on terms more favorable than offered pre-litigation.
Represented transportation/delivery company in nationwide class and collective action alleging that employer improperly classified certain dock supervisors as exempt employees under FLSA and Pennsylvania state law; motion to strike class allegations granted; state law claims dismissed in often-cited reported decision regarding maintainability of hybrid collective/class actions.
Recognitions
Listed, The Best Lawyers in America©, 2018-2025
- Litigation – Labor and Employment, 2018-2025
- Employment Law – Management, 2022-2025
Listed, Lawdragon, 500 Leading U.S. Corporate Employment Lawyers, 2020-2025
Listed, Thomson Reuters’ Stand-Out Lawyers, 2022-2025
Credentials
Education
Education
- University of Minnesota Law School, 1990, J.D., cum laude
- Bowdoin College, 1987, B.A., History, magna cum laude
Professional admissions & qualifications
Professional admissions & qualifications
- Pennsylvania
Court admissions
Court admissions
- U.S. Supreme Court
- U.S. Court of Appeals - First Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals - Second Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals - Third Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals - Fourth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals - Fifth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals - Sixth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals - Seventh Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals - Eighth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals - Ninth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals - Tenth Circuit
- U.S. District Court - Northern District of Illinois
- U.S. District Court - District of Massachusetts
- U.S. District Court - Eastern District of Michigan
- U.S. District Court - District of New Mexico
- U.S. District Court - Eastern District of Pennsylvania
- U.S. District Court - Middle District of Pennsylvania
- U.S. District Court - Western District of Pennsylvania
- U.S. District Court - Western District of Tennessee
- U.S. District Court - Eastern District of Wisconsin
Professional affiliations
Professional affiliations
- Former board member and executive committee member, Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC)
- Member, American Bar Association, Labor and Employment Section, Class Actions & Derivative Suits Committee
- Member, Philadelphia Bar Association
- Fellow, American Bar Foundation
- Governor, Dorset Field Club, 2023 to present
News
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