Thomas D. Rees
Montgomery County Labor & Employment Attorney

High Swartz LLP partner Thomas D. Rees heads the firm's Litigation, Employment Law, and Education Law Practices. He focuses primarily on employment and labor law and private education law.

As an employment attorney, Tom represents employers in litigation over a host of concerns:

• Employment terminations
• Restrictive covenants
• Trade secrets
• Employee mobility issues
• Employment discrimination
• Sexual harassment
• Employment contract disputes
• Defamation
• Privacy-related matters.

Tom also serves employers in a wide variety of non-litigation matters, including contract negotiation, preparation of policies and procedures, and hiring and termination. These services help employers avoid and resolve disputes without resorting to the courtroom.

Tom represents several independent schools in the Philadelphia area, handling employment, student discipline, contract, and governance matters in the education area. Tom also handles complex litigation and dispute resolution in land use and zoning law and government regulation.

Some of his noteworthy accomplishments include:

• Successfully defended a nonprofit, independent school against a taxing entity's attempt to revoke the school's tax exemption on the ground of single-gender status.
• Successfully defended an independent school against two injunction actions by students' parents' arising from the school's discipline of students.
• Obtained dismissal of arbitration parties' suits against an association and successfully blocked subpoena attempts against them and the association on the grounds of arbitral immunity.
• Won a summary judgment for a magazine publisher, dismissing an action violating a post-employment restrictive covenant.
• Served as an expert for a former executive in an action to forfeit executive's deferred compensation for alleged violation of restrictive covenant.
• Testified as an expert witness for the plaintiff in an action for wrongful use of civil proceedings (Dragonetti Act) after the plaintiff successfully defended against an action for breach of restrictive covenant.
• Obtained a preliminary injunction enforcing post-employment restrictive covenant for a computer distributor against a former salesperson.
• Obtained a summary judgment for a former employee dismissing Computer Fraud and Abuse Act claim by a former employer.
• Successfully opposed an injunction attempt by a police union against the appointment and tenure of a municipal police chief.
• Obtained dismissal for a private nonprofit agency of civil rights act claim for wrongful discharge by a terminated employee.
• Has written articles and presented on the following topics:
  • employment contracts
  • at-will employment
  • social media in the workplace
  • private school student discipline
  • employee mobility, including non-competition agreements and trade secrets
  • intentional interference with employment contracts
  • employee duty of loyalty
  • employment disputes involving shareholders
  • legal ethics, including ethical issues facing high profile attorneys
  • sexual harassment
  • family and medical leave (FMLA)
  • employee privacy
  • wage payment and collection law
• Served as a Board member and Board President of three major civic institutions in his community- a regional art center, the free library, and the civic association.

Tom serves as an employment arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association. He often speaks on employment and education law topics before Bar Association and private industry groups.