Fisher Phillips Enters Philadelphia Market

Fisher Phillips announces its expansion into Philadelphia with the addition of three Partners, Christopher P. Stief, David W. Erb and Michael R. Greco, who join Fisher Phillips from Saul Ewing LLP. The effective date for their move is March 26, 2007.

Stief, Erb and Greco have a national practice focusing on litigation of employee defection and recruitment matters involving non-compete agreements, trade secrets and related issues.  Their addition is a natural complement to Fisher Phillips, one of the nations largest labor and employment law firms, which exclusively represents management. Fisher Phillips now has 190 lawyers in 18 cities. Stief, Erb and Greco are joined by Of Counsels Susan M. Guerette and Risa B. Boerner and Associate Heather Zalar Steele.

Fisher Phillips Chairman Roger Quillen said, the addition of some of the top attorneys practicing in the growing area of non-competition and protection of trade secrets strengthens both our offerings to our clients and our presence in the Northeast. We have deliberately, but carefully, sought attorneys who focus their practice on protecting companies™ intellectual assets, a growing area of need for our clients. Fisher Phillips already has one of the strongest groups of labor and employment lawyers in the country. This exciting move adds tremendously to the depth and breadth of our experience and knowledge, which is great news for all of our clients.

Stief will be the regional managing partner in the new Fisher Phillips Philadelphia office. Together with Erb and Greco, the trio have litigated more than 800 employee defection and recruitment matters in virtually all fifty states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and international matters from Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Their representation of clients span a variety of industries including securities brokerage, health information technology, medical practice, temporary and permanent staffing services, online retailing, insurance brokerage, insurance agencies, computer hardware/software sales and distribution.

In addition to their litigation practice, Stief, Erb and Greco provide counseling on employee defection and recruitment issues involving covenants not to compete, non-solicitation and non-disclosure agreements, unfair competition, employee raiding, trade secrets, duty of loyalty, and statutory issues under the Computer Fraud & Abuse Act, the Espionage Act, and various state trade secrets  and unfair competition statutes. They help their clients balance the need to coordinate programs to protect their competitive assets against employee defections, on the one hand, with the need to minimize the risks that arise when hiring employees from competitors, on the other hand. 

Stief said, "Numerous firms were interested in our growing practice. We wanted to be part of a forward-thinking firm that understands the increasing importance of a practice such as ours. Once we met with Fisher Phillips, we quickly realized this firm has a vision that matches ours. We are leading the development and growth of what we believe to be the nations strongest practice group in the area of employee defection and recruitment.

Erb added, The national reach of Fisher Phillips with its strategically located offices will be a great enhancement to our national practice, and our current and new clients will benefit from the expansive knowledge base of the firm™s labor and employment attorneys.

It is a perfect fit, said Greco. Our extensive experience protecting trade secrets meshes perfectly with Fisher Phillips extensive experience in all matters of labor and employment law.  One of our immediate goals is to add to our ranks in Philadelphia with top notch labor and employment attorneys.