David C. Roth

A significant part of David’s practice involves complex employee mobility disputes in the financial services industry. He represents broker-dealers, registered investment advisers, banks, hedge funds, private equity firms, and other financial services businesses in matters involving the movement of executives, financial professionals, and teams. David understands the competitive interests at stake in these transitions, including client and investor relationships, sensitive non-public personal information, proprietary investment and trading strategies, research, deal flow and investment opportunities, and key personnel.

David has substantial FINRA arbitration experience, including first-chairing significant disputes through final hearing. His successes include multiple seven-figure FINRA awards in trade secret and employee defection disputes for claimants and complete defense victories for respondents. He also represents clients seeking and opposing emergency injunctive relief and has secured federal court injunctions protecting confidential and trade secret customer information.

His work extends well beyond litigation – David drafts and advises on restrictive covenant, confidentiality, and related agreements; develops protection strategies for different employee populations; counsels businesses recruiting from competitors; and helps clients manage the risks associated with employee departures, team moves, and terminations. He also conducts trade secret audits to help businesses identify information that warrants protection and implement practical safeguards designed to preserve it.

David approaches each engagement by learning the client’s business, digging into the facts, and understanding both what is at stake and what a successful outcome looks like. He works closely with clients to anticipate problems, assess risk, develop strategy, and move matters forward. Those relationships frequently extend beyond employee mobility matters, with clients also relying on David for advice on broader labor and employment issues.

Before joining Fisher Phillips, David clerked for the Hon. Elizabeth L. Harris of the Colorado Court of Appeals. During law school, he interned for the Hon. Kristen L. Mix of the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado and the Hon. Nancy E. Rice, then Chief Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court. He also served as Comments Editor of the Denver University Law Review and earned a certificate in workplace law.