Current Employment Position(s)

Partner

Lawyer Overview

Mr. Rees heads High Swartz LLP's employment law practice. He serves employers on a wide spectrum of individual employment matters, including contract negotiation, preparation of policies and procedures, hiring and termination, and dispute resolution. Mr. Rees handles litigation in the areas of employment termination, restrictive employment covenants and trade secrets, employment discrimination, defamation, and employment contract disputes. Mr. Rees was named a ""Pennsylvania Super Lawyer of 2004"" in the area of employment law in Philadelphia Magazine and Law and Politics Magazine.

Mr. Rees has served for several years as Chair or Co-chair of the Employment Law Committee of the Montgomery County Bar Association. He has been a course planner and lecturer on employment law topics for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute and the Montgomery County Bar Association. These topics have included restrictive covenants and trade secrets, employment contracts, employment torts, sexual harassment issues, employment privacy, ethics in employment law practice, and overall surveys of new developments in employment law.

Mr. Rees is a contributor, with other lawyers across the country, to a 50-state survey entitled Tortious Interference Claims Arising From Restrictive Covenants in Employment Agreements: A State-by-State Survey. Mr. Rees prepared the survey of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware law on tortious interference for this work. The survey was prepared by the American Bar Association and will be published shortly.

Mr. Rees serves as an employment arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association. He is a member of the AAA's national panel of employment arbitrators.

Aside from employment matters, Mr. Rees also handles complex litigation and dispute resolution in the areas of land use and zoning law, education law, and government regulation. Mr. Rees has served in the past as a lecturer and author for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute on subdivision and land development law, zoning hearing board relief, intervention and standing in land use proceedings, and ethics in land use proceedings. He is a past Chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Municipal Law Section and past Chair of the Montgomery County Bar Association Real Estate and Land Use Planning Committee.

Mr. Rees has been a partner at High, Swartz LLP since 1987; he first joined the firm as counsel in 1985. Before joining High Swartz, Mr. Rees was an associate with Morgan, Lewis & Bockius in Philadelphia, and from 1981 to 1985 was Deputy General Counsel to Pennsylvania Governor Richard Thornburgh.

Areas of Practice

• Employment Law
• Restrictive Employment Covenants and Trade Secrets
• Real Estate
• Land Use and Zoning Law
• Education Law
• Business Law
• Government Regulation

Representative Clients

• The Hill School
• King of Prussia Chamber of Commerce
• Delaware Valley Real Estate Information Network
• Harcum College
• Montgomery County Association of Retarted Citizens

Representative Cases

• Pottstown School Dist. v. The Hill School, 48 Pa.D.&C. 4th 365 (Court of Common Pleas, Montgomery County 2000)
• Pottstown School Dist. v. The Hill School, 786 A.2d 312 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2001)

West Practice Categories

Employment Law -- Employee, Employment Law -- Employer, Real Estate Law, Trade Secrets, Land Use & Zoning, Education Law, Business & Commercial Law, Government Agencies & Programs

Bar Admissions

• New York, 1976
• Pennsylvania, 1977
• U.S. District Court Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 1977
• U.S. Court of Appeals 3rd Circuit, 1978
• U.S. Supreme Court, 1982

Professional Associations and Memberships

• American Arbitration Association (Arbitrator, National Panel of Arbitrators (Employment and Commercial))
• King of Prussia Chamber of Commerce, 1998 - Present (VP/General Counsel)
• Pennsylvania Bar Association, Municipal Law Section, 1993 - 1995 (Chairman)
• Montgomery County Bar Association, 1996 - 1997 (Chair/ Co-Chair, Employment Law Committee)
• Montgomery County Bar Association, 2000 (Chair/ Co-Chair, Employment Law Committee)

Honors and Awards

• Kenneth R. Taylor Excellence in Chamber Service Award, King of Prussia Chamber of Commerce, 2001
• "Pennsylvania Super Lawyer of 2001" in the area of employment law in Philadelphia Magazine and Law and Politics Magazine

Classes and Seminars

• Employment Law Seminar, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, 1993 - 2001
• Employment Law Seminar, Montgomery Bar Association, 1994 - 2000
• Zoning/Land Use Law Seminar, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, 1990 - 1998
• Faculty Member, Pennsylvania Bar Institute's Northeast Employment Law institute

Past Employment Positions

• Office of the Governor, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Deputy General Counsel, 1981 - 1985
• Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, Pennsylvania, Associate, 1977 - 1981
• Lovejoy, Wasson, Lundgren & Ashton, New York City, Associate, 1975 - 1977

Education

• University of Pennsylvania Law School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1975
  J.D.
• Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 1971
  A.B.
  Honors: Dean's List
  Major: Political Science

Published Works

• Restrictive Covenants & Trade Secrets, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, 2000
• Restrictive Covenants & Trade Secrets, Employment Law Institute, 2001
• Restrictive Covenants in the Professions, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, 2000
• Employment Law, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Municipal Law Colloquium, 1993
• Employment Law, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Municipal Law Colloquium, 1995
• Employment Law, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Municipal Law Colloquium, 1997
• Employment Law, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Municipal Law Colloquium, 1999
• Employment Law, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Municipal Law Colloquium, 2001

Address

40 East Airy Street
Norristown, PA 19404

Phones

610-275-0700

Faxes

610-275-5290

Emails

Contact Us

Websites

http://www.highswartz.com