Andrew Reed

Andrew Reed represents employers in all areas of employment and commercial litigation, including claims for breach of restrictive covenant agreements, misappropriation of trade secrets, wage and hour violations, claims of employment discrimination and retaliation. Board Certified in labor and employment law, Andrew has first-chair trial experience in federal court, state court and arbitration, has presented oral argument to the Houston Court of Appeals, and has represented employers in administrative proceedings and investigations with the U.S. Department of Labor, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Texas Workforce Commission and Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Andrew also has considerable experience advising clients on the entire life cycle of an employment relationship, including drafting and revising employment contracts, restrictive covenant agreements, employee handbooks, conducting internal investigations, and counseling employers on issues related to disciplinary actions and separations. He has experience drafting and implementing employment contracts, nondisclosure agreements, arbitration agreements, covenants not to compete and independent contractor agreements.

His experience includes:

Breach of Contract

• First-chair trial experience with jury verdict for client in Harris County state court representing medical practice in breach of contract action against former physician
• First-chair trial experience in federal bankruptcy court in the Southern District of Texas representing nonprofit organization seeking to collect on previous state court breach of contract and fraud judgment against former contractor; following three-day trial and extensive post-trial briefing, obtained decision awarding full damages and attorneys’ fees
• Second-chair trial experience in two-month long trial in 295th Judicial District Court in Harris County, Texas, in claims involving breach of restrictive covenant agreements, breach of fiduciary duty, misappropriation of trade secrets and unfair competition; obtained ruling on summary judgment for clients and ultimately prevailed at trial on all claims with a complete defense verdict and award of attorneys’ fees for defense costs
• Second-chair trial experience with jury verdict on all claims in 333rd Judicial District Court of Harris County, Texas, in breach of contract action
• Second-chair arbitration experience in case involving breach of executive employment contract
• Obtained temporary restraining orders, temporary injunctions and permanent injunctions on behalf of corporate employers in claims involving breach of covenants not to compete, non–solicitation agreements and trade secret misappropriation
• Obtained temporary restraining order and agreed permanent injunction on behalf of staffing company against former employee who departed in breach of non-competition agreement

Wage & Hour 

• First chaired three arbitration proceedings in 2018 involving wage and hour misclassification claims; obtained summary judgment rulings and cases ultimately resolved via settlement
• First-chair arbitration experience involving claims for wage and hour violations as well as retaliation under Chapter 21 of the Texas Labor Code and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act; obtained arbitration award on all claims
• Prepared appellate briefing and presented oral argument to Houston Court of Appeals in Texas Payday Law proceedings

Employment Discrimination

• Second-chair trial experience in 151st Judicial District Court of Harris County Texas in claims involving age discrimination and retaliation
• Conducted on–site interviews, prepared position statements responding to charges of discrimination filed with the EEOC, and advised management and human resources representatives regarding a wide range of employment statutes and regulations

Trade Secret

• Assisted in obtaining permanent injunction for employer against departed employee who attempted to open a competitor using confidential drawings and other trade secret information