Nick Margello

Nick Margello helps clients with all their employment law issues and represents clients in general business litigation. Nick represents employers in a wide range of employment law disputes, including claims of harassment, discrimination, and wrongful termination; disputes related to restrictive covenants; and ERISA benefits litigation.

Nick has represented employers’ interests in lawsuits in federal and state courts, in private arbitrations, and on appeal. He has defended employers against charges filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and with state agencies across the country.

Nick also represents clients outside the courtroom by providing general employment advice and counseling. He helps clients avoid legal pitfalls when navigating employment decisions and assists employers with drafting employment policies, employment agreements, separation agreements, and employment forms.

Nick has developed a reputation for conducting thorough research to find creative solutions to difficult employment problems. He frequently assists multistate employers draft restrictive covenant agreements, such as non-compete and non-solicitation agreements.

He helps clients assess the likelihood that such covenants will be enforceable in the states where employees are located. When an employee breaches or threatens to breach a restrictive covenant, Nick helps employers protect their business interests through litigation.

In addition to his employment practice, Nick also represents clients in general business litigation. Nick has assisted clients with breach of contract disputes, construction disputes, and disputes between limited liability company members.

He has significant knowledge regarding the enforcement of contractual choice-of-law provisions under various states’ laws. He also assists entities with responding to customers’ claims of discrimination. He has assisted entities facing complaints under the Fair Housing Act (FHA) before the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

He has also helped entities avoid and defend complaints of discrimination under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in the activities of places of public accommodations.

Nick also has an active pro bono practice assisting low-income clients in a variety of matters. He has been recognized as a Tennessee Supreme Court Attorney for Justice for his pro bono work.

Nick is editor for Baker Donelson’s Labor & Employment Newsletter. While in law school, Nick was the editor-in-chief of the University of Memphis Law Review and served as an extern for a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals judge and two administrative judges with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

EDUCATION:

• Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, University of Memphis, J.D., 2015, magna cum laude
• Rhodes College, B.A. in Political Science, 2009

ADMISSIONS:

• Tennessee, 2015
• U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, 2016
• United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, 2016

Representative Matters :

• Enforced a non-compete agreement against a former employee who lived and worked solely in California by obtaining a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction. The Tennessee state court, the federal district court, and the federal court of appeals restrained the employee from competing with the client’s business.
• Obtained summary judgment in favor of an employer on all of a former employee’s claims, including claims of disability discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), failure to accommodate under the ADA, interference under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), retaliation under the FMLA, and retaliation under state workers’ compensation law.
• Obtained numerous “no cause” findings from the EEOC and state agencies that are charged with enforcing anti-discrimination laws.

Professional Honors & Activities:

• Named a Tennessee Supreme Court Attorney for Justice (2016 – 2017)
• Student Member – Leo Bearman Sr. American Inn of Court (2014 – 2015)