Overview
Francis Wilson is an associate in the firm’s Denver office who focuses his practice on employee defection and trade secrets and class and collective action litigation, as well as preventive counseling and advice. He has prosecuted and defended lawsuits involving restrictive covenant-related issues, including asserted breaches of non-competition and non-solicitation agreements. Francis also has extensive experience with drafting complex employment-related contracts, such as executive compensation agreements, multi-state employment agreements, restrictive covenant agreements, and bonus and commission agreements. Francis’ experience allows him to approach contractual negotiation and drafting with a focus on both complying with applicable state and federal laws and regulations and ensuring that the client’s practical needs and goals are met. He also defends businesses on a variety of employment claims, such as discrimination and harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, wage and hour violations, Equal Pay Act violations, and False Claims Act violations.
Francis is a member of the firm’s Sports Industry Group, representing numerous professional athletes in connection with hiring their personal workers, such as nannies, mental/physical wellness coaches, chefs/nutritionists, personal assistants, etc. He also counsels professional and collegiate sports leagues and teams on a variety of employment matters and has published several articles on employment issues impacting collegiate athletics programs.
Prior to joining Fisher Phillips, Francis served as an associate for a national management-side labor and employment-focused law firm where he advised employers on and assisted employers with the defense of lawsuits involving Title VII violation, restrictive covenants matters, class and collective actions, unemployment matters, and workers’ compensation issues. He also worked as a financial consultant at a Big Four accounting firm and in-house at a non-profit national defense think tank, where he primarily was responsible for leading the company’s investigations into allegations of employee misconduct and handling other employment-related issues. The business insight Francis developed during his time in consulting, paired with his legal experience both in-house and as outside counsel, provides him with a unique ability to understand clients’ needs, goals, and expectations.