David E. MorrisonGoldberg Kohn Bell Black Rosenbloom & Moritz, Ltd, Chicago, USAAreas of Practice: Alternative Dispute Resolution, Employment Law -- Employer Contact Information:
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| David Morrison is a principal in the firm's Litigation and Labor & Employment Groups. He is an experienced employment law litigator, having litigated employment matters before local, state and federal courts and before agencies in Illinois, New York, California, Virginia, Wisconsin, Texas and Michigan. His employment litigation experience includes, among others, cases involving discrimination, harassment, failure to hire, failure to promote, wrongful termination, breach of employment agreement, breach of covenants-not-to-compete, breach of fiduciary duty, the Illinois Trade Secrets Act, and failure to pay final compensation, minimum wage compensation, tips and commissions. In addition, Mr. Morrison has counseled employers on issues concerning handbooks and policies, reductions in force, terminations, various agreements (employment, separation, temporary employee, covenants-not-to-compete, confidentiality and releases), wage and hour issues, Sarbanes-Oxley, issues under WARN, Section 1981, and the Family and Medical Leave Act.A representative sampling of Mr. Morrison's employment litigation experiences include the following cases:▪ Successfully tried a five-day federal employment discrimination trial in the Northern District of Illinois on behalf of a multinational business. Judgment entered in favor of client.▪ Successfully tried three-day NASD arbitration on behalf of public company/national bank in employment dispute against former employee and public company defendant accused of stealing trade secrets, violating non-solicitation agreement and tortiously interfering with client relationships. Arbitration award entered on liability in favor of client. Subsequently mediated the damage claim, obtaining a significant six-figure payment on behalf of client.▪ After defeating a motion for temporary restraining order, Mr. Morrison successfully obtained summary judgment on a complaint alleging a breach of a covenant-not-to-compete, breach of a confidentiality agreement, breach of fiduciary duty, tortious interference with contract, and violations of the Illinois Trade Secrets Act. Based on the record developed by Mr. Morrison, which reflected that the plaintiff filed false pleadings, the trial court awarded the firm's client all of its attorneys' fees and expenses incurred in the 9-month long case as a sanction against the plaintiff and its attorneys. The award was affirmed by the Illinois Appellate Court, and the Illinois Supreme Court denied the petition for leave to appeal filed by the plaintiff and its law firm.▪ Represented a public company in multiple Fair Labor Standards Act class action cases seeking to provide notice to a national class of employees. Mr. Morrison has defeated the class plaintiff's motion to approve national notice, and has reached a favorable settlement on the existing local claims, saving the client from the significant exposure associated with the national class action cases.▪ Represented a national bank as its national employment counsel responsible for defending employment discrimination cases in New York and Texas. Mr. Morrison has either defeated the claims or settled them favorably through mediation efforts before Magistrate judges or neutral mediators.Mr. Morrison also is an experienced commercial litigator. In Illinois, New York, Delaware, Texas, Virginia, Nebraska and Arizona, he has litigated, arbitrated and mediated commercial cases that have involved commercial licensing disputes; sales, promotion, distribution and marketing agreements; accounting fraud; securities litigation; commercial lease disputes; breach of letters of intent; breach of warranty; construction litigation; enforcement of guarantees; and dozens of bankruptcy issues. He has represented banks and other commercial lenders, pharmaceutical companies, real estate operators and lessors, general merchandise stores, restaurants, manufacturers, distributors, and various service sectors, including pharmaceutical, banking, hospitality, engineering, telecommunications, architectural, accounting, and research and testing.A representative sampling of Mr. Morrison's commercial litigation experiences include the following cases:▪ Successfully tried a week-long trial in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on behalf of an international jet airplane manufacturer, resulting in an award representing 40 percent of the debtor's estate, or more than $3,200,000.▪ Successfully arbitrated a nine-day AAA commercial arbitration on behalf of a public company that is in the national retail business, resulting in an award of over $750,000 to the client. The arbitration award was confirmed by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and affirmed by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.▪ Successfully tried a two-day trial in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois, resulting in an award of approximately $600,000 to the client. ▪ Successfully obtained a preliminary injunction in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware to enjoin class action environmental litigation from proceeding against the firm's client, which litigation was valued at over $50,000,000. ▪ Represented a secured lender in a bankruptcy case where the debtor was in the oil and gas industry, and its assets were represented by reserves accessed by deep sea platforms in the Gulf of Mexico and in wells located in Texas. When the other constituent parties (including Fortune 100 oil companies and the debtor's parent company controlled by a billionaire) sought to prove that the value of the reserves had plummeted and were over-burdened by expenses in order to eradicate our client's secured position, Mr. Morrison and a team of attorneys and experts conducted five months of fast-paced litigation to establish the proper value of the debtor's assets. After conducting fact and expert discovery, the firm's client obtained a settlement worth more than $25,000,000.▪ Represented a closely held business that owed a Japanese public company in excess of $7 million. After bringing a multi-million dollar counterclaim and conducting significant discovery, Mr. Morrison led the client through two settlement negotiation sessions with federal judges and through a third settlement negotiation session lasting more than two days, ultimately reaching a settlement worth more than $5 million to the client. Mr. Morrison also is an active pro bono practitioner and has litigated many pro bono matters in his career, including discrimination, medicaid and election fraud cases. Mr. Morrison successfully tried a three-day federal employment discrimination jury trial, having been appointed as counsel by the Northern District of Illinois. He successfully argued before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in opposition to the other party's appeal in this case. The Seventh Circuit affirmed the jury's verdict and the District Court?s rulings below in the client's favor. See Mathis v. Phillips Chevrolet, 269 F.3d 771 (2001).Mr. Morrison is the author of "You've Built the Bridge, Why Don't You Cross It? A Call for State Labor Laws Prohibiting Private Employment Discrimination on the Basis of Sexual Orientation," 26 University of Michigan Journal of Law Ref., 245 (1992); "Against the Odds, Holiday Office Parties Thriving," Bridge News (Dec. 16, 1998); "Altering Overtime Rule Sets the Stage for More Debate," 27 Crain's Chicago Business 34 (Aug. 23, 2004); "Is Your E-mail Company Property," The Providence Journal and The Fresno Bee (May 19, 2005); "'English Only' May Be Discriminatory," Lodging Law (August 2006); "Caution! 'English-Only' in the Workplace can be a Discriminatory Practice," The Rooms Chronicle (August 2006); "English-Only Can Be Discriminatory," Lodging Hospitality (September 2006); and of, "Can Local and State Governments Tie Tax Incentive Financing (TIF) to Pro Union Concessions?" Lodging Law, The American Hotel and Lodging Association (September 2006). In March 2006, Mr. Morrison was a Guest Lecturer at Northwestern University Law School, presenting the lecture "Employment Law for the Entrepreneur" for the Entrepreneurship Law Class at the law school. Seminars or conferences at which he has presented include, "Promoting Diversity Within Your Firm, Pushing the Issue Forward: Retaining & Advancing Women Attorneys in Your Firm" (July 2007); "Overcoming Mid-Size and Small Firm Challenges," The American Conference Institute National Forum on Law Firm Diversity (January, March and June 2007); "Reducing Hiring Risk While Winning the Race for Talent," HR.com Educational Webcast (June 2007); "Up-the-Ladder Reporting Responsibilities under the Sarbanes Oxley Act," Practicing Law Institute (January 2005); "Best Practices in FMLA Administration," Council on Education in Management (July 2004); "Are You Ready? The New FLSA Regs," Goldberg Kohn client seminar (June 2004); "Negotiating Executive Compensation and Employment Agreements," Robertson Lowstuter Inc. Management Consulting Seminar Series (November 2003); nationwide human resources managers training conference (live and via video) regarding FMLA, Retaliation, Sarbanes-Oxley, and the overlay between FMLA, ADA and Workers' Compensation (July 2003); "Illinois Payroll Basics," Lorman Education Services (August 2001); and "Employment Law for Small Business," National Business Institute (1998). He has been interviewed by Crain's Chicago Business, Business Week, The Daily Gazette,The Record (New Jersey), The Register, Press-Enterprise, lawcrossing.com, National Public Radio, CNN Radio, WCIU-Channel 26 and WLS-ABC Channel 7 in Chicago on a range of employment topics.Mr. Morrison serves as the firm's hiring partner and Chairman of its Recruiting Committee, and he served on the firm's Pro Bono Committee for 9 years. He received his law degree, cum laude, from the University of Michigan in 1993, where he was Executive Note Editor of the University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform, and his B.A. in political science, with honors, from Indiana University in 1990. He is a former law clerk to the Honorable Suzanne B. Conlon, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He is admitted to practice in Illinois and New York, in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, and in the U.S. District Courts, Northern District of Illinois and the Western District of Michigan. Mr. Morrison is a past officer and co-chair of the Executive Committee and a current member of the board of directors of Scholarship Chicago, Inc., a not-for-profit charitable organization established to assist underprivileged Chicago-area high school students attend and graduate from the colleges of their choice. Mr. Morrison has also been selected for inclusion in "SuperLawyers." Bar Admissions Illinois New York U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois U.S. District Court Western District of Michigan U.S. Court of Appeals 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Education The University of Michigan Law School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1993 J.D. Law Journal: University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform, 1991 - 1993 Cum Laude Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA, 1990 B.A. With Honors |
