Our Programme: Gibson Dunn London partners James Cox and Rachel Couter will be joined by Stroz Friedberg Managing Director Seth Berman to address the legal and practical steps to prevent and/or restrict the loss of key employees to a competitor -- including wrongful use of client lists and other proprietary information. The seminar will also include a discussion of the vital role played by computer forensics in obtaining the "smoking gun" evidence necessary to obtain injunctive relief or settlement on favourable terms.

The seminar will make use of a case study to stimulate a lively and informative discussion regarding the practical, commercial, legal and investigatory steps that an employer should take on first learning of the competitive activity and in order to obtain relief from the English courts.

Topics to be discussed include:

Initial Response

• Understanding employee duties and restrictions
• Using computer forensics to obtain "smoking gun" evidence
• The options open to the employer and tactical considerations
• How to obtain an injunction

Who should attend this programme: In-house counsel, chief human resources officers and senior UK based executives.

Featured presenters include:

James Cox – James A. Cox is a partner in the London office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher where he heads up the UK employment practice. Mr. Cox has extensive experience in contentious and non-contentious labour and employment matters, with an emphasis on: corporate governance matters; boardroom appointments and removals; contractor and directorship matters; employment issues facing private equity companies; cross-border employment issues; whistle-blowing; equal pay and other discrimination claims; worker consultation; collective labour and industrial disputes; enforcing and resisting post-employment restrictive covenants and protecting confidential information from misuse by current and former employees; redundancies and workforce restructurings; TUPE; and the employment aspects of public and private mergers and acquisitions and outsourcing arrangements. Mr. Cox is a recommended lawyer in the category of Employment law in the 2007-2009 annual editions of Chambers and Partners UK.

Rachel Couter – Rachel Couter is a partner in the London office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher working in the dispute resolution practice. Ms. Couter has broad litigation and dispute resolution experience, with a focus on representing large corporate clients in high-value complex claims, often with an international angle or involving multiple jurisdictions. She has also acted for a number of financial institutions and listed corporates in connection with investigations and disciplinary proceedings brought by various regulatory bodies, including the Financial Services Authority, the UK Listing Authority, the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (formerly the Department of Trade and Industry) and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Ms. Couter has particular experience in the area of employee competition, acting on behalf of the employer, including the obtaining of an injunction against former employees, directors and shareholders of a purchased company for breaches of restrictive covenants and theft of intellectual property and other proprietary information.

Seth Berman – Seth P. Berman serves as Managing Director and Deputy General Counsel head of Stroz Friedberg's Boston and London offices. In that capacity, Mr. Berman supervises digital forensics, cyber-crime investigations, and electronic discovery assignments involving the collection of electronic data in criminal, civil, regulatory, and internal corporate matters. Mr. Berman also oversees computer investigations involving data breaches, securities fraud, identity theft, employee misconduct, and theft of trade secrets. Prior to joining Stroz Friedberg, Mr. Berman was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts where he served in the Economic Crimes Unit.

If you have any general enquiries, please contact Lesley Wright:
lwright@gibsondunn.com or + 44 (0) 20 7071 4215

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher produces a UK Employment and Labour Law - Quarterly Executive Summary. Please see the latest issue and back copies. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher lawyers are available to assist in addressing any questions you may have regarding these issues. For further details concerning cases and developments discussed in the Quarterly Executive Summary or for assistance on any UK Employment or Labour law matter, please contact: James A. Cox (+44 (0)207 071 4250, jacox@gibsondunn.com), Daniel E. Pollard (+44 (0)207 071 4257, dpollard@gibsondunn.com) or Steven F.C. Cochrane (+44 (0)207 071 4275, scochrane@gibsondunn.com) in the firm's London office, or any member of Gibson Dunn's Labor and Employment Practice Group.