David D. Leishman helps employers defend against discrimination, harassment and retaliation claims and navigate and resolve employee mobility and restrictive covenant problems. Litigation is, ultimately, storytelling, so he devotes time to understanding his clients’ industries and business models, along with the unique facts of each case, to develop a story that is concise, accurate and advances clients’ interests.
Dave has particular experience with employment issues in the health care, transportation, communications, retail and banking industries.
Dave litigates claims under the ADA, FMLA, ADEA, Title VII, False Claims Act, First Amendment, Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses, and other federal and state anti-discrimination and anti-retaliation laws in state courts, federal courts, and before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and many state agencies.
He counsels clients on difficult wage and hour and overtime exemption issues and litigates individual and class and collective actions under the FLSA and many state wage and hour laws in state and federal courts. Dave also represents clients in labor arbitration and before the National Labor Relations Board.
Dave was a law clerk to Justice G. Barry Anderson of the Minnesota Supreme Court from 2006 to 2007. Dave also is a guest faculty member at Wheaton (IL) College, where he teaches Business Law.
EXPERIENCE :
- Defended food and beverage industry client and newly-hired employee against claims that employee unlawfully solicited prior employer’s customers in violation of non-competition agreement and stole prior employer’s trade secrets. Case settled on confidential terms.
- Defended transportation industry client against competitor’s claim that client engaged in a nationwide scheme to unlawfully solicit competitor’s employees and induce them to breach alleged contractual obligations to competitor. Case settled on confidential terms.
- Obtained injunction on behalf of financial industry client against former employee who accepted employment with a competitor and solicited client’s customers on behalf of competitor.
- Representation in trade secrets and unfair competition case involving forensic evidence of several employees’ theft of customer information followed by their simultaneous resignation to form a competing business. Case settled on confidential terms.
- Representation of corporation and individual manager accused by a former Financial Advisor of gender discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and wrongful termination. Case settled on confidential terms.
- Representation in racial bias and discrimination case. Obtained summary judgment on plaintiff’s claims. Julie Delgado-O’Neil v. City of Minneapolis, No. 08-4924 (D. Minn. Aug. 13, 2010)
Education :
- University of Minnesota Law School, JD, magna cum laude, Order of the Coif, Lead Note & Comment Editor; Staff, Minnesota Law Review, 2006
- Wheaton College, BA, with Honors, 1996
Admissions : Illinois, Minnesota
Cost
Rate : $$$