Reed Smith Starts Emergency Relief and Injunction Practice

By Gina Passarella
Of the Legal Staff

Reed Smith has created a new practice group geared toward helping clients in need of emergency litigation services.

The emergency relief and injunction team consists of nine members of the firm’s commercial litigation and disputes practice.

The team will be led by Philadelphia-based commercial litigation partner Wayne C. Stansfield.

“Clients who require or face emergency action, such as injunctions, need a specialized resource because of the unique nature of these types of matters and the speed at which they move,” Stansfield said in a statement. “Unless a lawyer handles emergency matters routinely, such situations can be daunting. Even experienced litigators without prior experience in emergency matters can be uncomfortable with them. In this specialized area, the law moves at such a tremendous speed there’s no room for error.” Reed Smith said the members of the new team have experience in securing emergency relief in matters such as trade secrets or noncompetes, tenants holding over leases, injunctions to prevent property damage or matters related to M&A deals.

Stansfield told The Legal the need for emergency litigation services has seen an uptick in recent years because of the proliferation of the use of electronic information. Stansfield said a number of these cases involve companies looking to protect their trade secrets when high-level employees are leaving.

“In those [cases], you need to move fast because the electronic information will be gone before you can do anything about it,” Stansfield said.

The team will advise clients across the country on emergency actions, from initial investigation to resolution. They will seek and defend emergency relief in the form of temporary restraining orders, preliminary injunctions and expedited discovery orders, the firm said.

Stansfield emphasized the specialty nature of emergency litigation work.

“Even among litigators, people who do them tend to do all of them,” he said of emergency filings.

Aside from Stansfield, the new team includes Doug Albritton in Chicago; Jesse Miller in San Francisco; Michael Garabed in Los Angeles; John McIntyre and Jayme Butcher in Pittsburgh; Brian Rostocki in Wilmington, Del.; Travis Sabalewski in Richmond, Va.; and David Kochman in New York.

Gina Passarella is the senior reporter for The Legal. She can be contacted by email at gpassarella@alm.com or phone at 215-557-2494. Follow her on Twitter at @GPassarellaTLI.

Comments

[San Diego Bankruptcy Attorney]

Emergency law advice is so important in the fast pace world we live in today. A lot of clients need the advising and they need it quick.

[sample]

Stan meadow said a figure of these luggage engage corporation seem to defend their deal secrets at what time sophisticated workers are send-off.

[Moreno Valley Bankruptcy Lawyer]

Emergency injunctions require someone who is knowledge and experienced in handling these matters. Often times there is no room for error given the issues at stake and the time constraints that the clients are under. It is important that a client find an experienced lawyer who can efficiently and quickly handle an emergency injunction.