Honors and Awards: AV Rating, Martindale-Hubbell

Bar/Professional Activity: State Bar of Georgia Special Legislative Study Committee on Restrictive Covenants, 2008, State Bar of Georgia Labor and Employment Section, State Bar of Georgia Business Law Section, American Bar Association Labor and Employment Section, Atlanta Bar Association Labor and Employment Section, Atlanta Bar Association Litigation Section, DeKalb Bar Association, Federal Bar Association

Pro bono/Community Service: Appointed by Georgia Supreme Court as Mentor for Transition into Law Practice Program, Duke University Alumni Admissions Advisory Committee

Scholarly Lectures and Writings: Ben will be speaking about Non-Competes and Other Restrictive Covenants at a seminar on “Practicing Business Law in the New Economy” sponsored by the Business Law and Litigation Section of the Cobb County Bar Association on January 29, 2010, Speaker, Practicing Business Law in the New Economy, Cobb County Bar Association - Business Law and Litigation Section, Attorneys, 2010, In January 2008, Ben spoke at an ethics, professionalism and mentoring seminar hosted by the Lawyers Club of Atlanta., Speaker, Ethics, Professionalism and Mentoring Seminar, Lawyers Club of Atlanta, 2008, Author, How to Protect Your Business from Employees Who Leave, Builders Resource Magazine, Construction, 2007, Author, Restrictive Covenants in Georgia: Avoiding the Choice of Law Trap, Employment Law 360, Attorneys, 2006, Author, Can Your Web Site Cause Your Company to be Sued in States Other than the State in Which Your Business is Located? , TechLINKS - The Guide to Technology in Georgia, Information Technology, 2004, Ben spoke on "The Use of Restrictive Covenants in Employment Law" at the Employers' Duties and Problems seminar sponsored by the Institute for Continuing Legal Education in Georgia on September 26, 2003., Speaker, Employers' Duties and Problems, Institute for Continuing Legal Education in Georgia, Attorneys, 2003, Author, Personal Jurisdiction and the Internet: Changing the Rules or Not?, Technology Law Section Newsletter, State Bar of Georgia, Attorneys, 2003, Author, Protecting Your Business from Start to Finish: Identifying Your Objectives When Using Restrictive Covenants in Employment Agreements, The Human Resource - SHRM Atlanta Monthly Newsletter, Human Resources, 2003, Author, Employment Agreements - Leaving Employees Can Sometimes Be Thieving Employees, Competitive Edge Magazine, Entrepeneurs, 2002, Since 1995, Ben has served annually on the faculty of Covenants Not to Compete, a seminar sponsored by Lorman Education Services. The seminar is designed for attorneys who counsel corporate and business clients on restrictive covenant agreements with employees., Speaker, Covenants Not to Compete, Lorman Education Services, Attorneys, 1995

Verdicts and Settlements: Defended seller of company in commercial arbitration in New York City against claims by buyer in excess of $150 million for alleged fraud and breach of indemnification provisions in Stock Purchase Agreement., Successfully challenged over broad non-compete agreement for senior sales executive and physician and their new employer, a public company in the disease management business., Successfully enforced non-compete agreement against former sales representative and new employer for large, national insulation sub-contractor., Appointed by Superior Court of Cobb County, Georgia as Special Master to preside over expedited discovery and carry out the terms of a Temporary Restraining Order in a lawsuit involving alleged economic espionage and theft of trade secrets and confidential information., Obtained favorable settlement in federal court case in Tennessee in case involving enforcement of non-compete agreements against former owners of company acquired by client, a large, national insulation sub-contractor., Obtained favorable settlement for CFO for hire firm against former employee who improperly diverted business and illegally downloaded information from the firm’s computer systems., Obtained $500,000 jury verdict for distributor of roofing products against manufacturer for breach of distributorship agreement and successfully defended distributor against counterclaims by the manufacturer for breach of fiduciary duty and fraud., Successfully defended former Chief Executive Officer of public company in the gaming business from claims of securities fraud in excess of $5 million brought by a shareholder in federal court by obtaining directed verdict at the close of the plaintiff’s case., Successfully defended medical device distributor and its employees from claims of unfair competition and breach of non-compete agreements brought by former distributor., Obtained favorable settlement for publicly traded software development and e-commerce firm in defense of claims by former customer for fraud and breach of contract., Successfully defended executive in temporary and contract staffing business from attempt by former employer, a large multi-national company, to enforce over broad non-compete agreement, Obtained reversal on appeal of jury verdict and judgment for breach of contract and fraud entered against clients in the pre-funding of personal injury lawsuits business in case tried by other counsel., Defended insurance consulting firm at trial against compensation and fraud claims brought by former president of company. Obtained directed verdict at the close of the plaintiff’s case on president’s claim of fraud, though jury returned a verdict for him on his contract claims., Obtained favorable settlement of sexual harassment claim involving allegations of rape by a store manager brought by former employee of large, regional fast-food chain against the company., Obtained favorable settlement for accountants who left a regional firm to form their own accounting firm and were sued for breach of a non-disclosure agreement and for violation of the trade secrets act., Successfully defended seller of for-profit trade school in federal court in Dallas, Texas from claims of buyer for fraud and breach of contract., Obtained favorable settlement for a software and transaction processing company in relation to claims for copyright infringement brought by the Business Software Alliance., Successfully defended minority owner of limited liability company in vinyl siding business from attempt by majority owner to enforce over broad restrictive covenants in their operating agreement.

Transactions: Represented joint venture of three large, publicly traded competitors in drafting and negotiating employment agreement for chief executive officer of joint venture.

Educational Background: Duke University, B.A., 1989