Douglas A. Wickham

Practicing for more than 32 years, Douglas A. Wickham has substantial trial, appellate and complex litigation experience in a diverse range of employment and labor matters. His practice focuses on complex litigation matters including hotly contested trade secrets and unfair competition cases, high stakes class action and representative action litigation, contested private attorney general matters, sophisticated appellate litigation cases, and defending against and/or enforcing restrictive covenants and includes cases involving the following:

• Trade secrets litigation and the protection of confidential information
• Unfair competition and unfair business practices cases
• Non-solicitation agreements, inventions and intellectual property assignments and covenants not to compete
• Wage and hour class actions and representative actions, Private Attorney General Act (PAGA) claims and Fair Labor Standards Act cases
• Discrimination, harassment and retaliation litigation including wrongful termination cases
• Whistleblower claims
• Appellate litigation
• Breach of contract and partnership disputes

Douglas has extensive knowledge of a wide range of employment law matters before state and federal trial and appellate courts; administrative agencies, such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Employment Development Department, the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, and the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement; and before arbitration panels in proceedings before the American Arbitration Association, Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services (JAMS), and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). His expertise includes and extends to claims under the following federal and state laws:

• The Uniform Trade Secrets Act
• The Unfair Competition Law
• The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
• The Class Action Fairness Act
• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
• The Americans with Disabilities Act
• The Family and Medical Leave Act
• The Age Discrimination in Employment Act
• The Fair Employment and Housing Act
• The Fair Labor Standards Act
• The Federal Arbitration Act and state arbitration acts
• The California Labor Code, the California Civil Code, the California Penal Code, and the California Business and Professions Code
• The California Family Rights Act
• The Private Attorney General Act of 2004

Douglas regularly advises clients on compliance with applicable state and federal employment and labor laws and on international and cross-border employment matters and disputes. He also offers advice, counseling and drafting in connection with:

• Executive employment agreements, independent contractor agreements, and consulting agreements
• Confidentiality agreements and policies, inventions and intellectual property assignments, non-solicitation agreements, and other restrictive covenants, including non-competition agreements
• Arbitration agreements and dispute resolution policies
• Corporate transactions including stock and asset purchases and mergers and acquisitions
• Reductions-in-force
• Class action avoidance and defense
• Wage and hour advice and employment policies
• Day-to-day compliance advice and counseling

Additionally, Douglas assists with internal investigations, conducts various types of training sessions and speaks at client briefings on employment and labor topics.

Beginning in 2014, Douglas became available to serve as an arbitrator in proceedings before the American Arbitration Association, where he is a member of the National Employment and Commercial Panels of Arbitrators. He also is available to serve as a mediator, having successfully completed the American Arbitration Association’s mediation training program.

Prior to joining Littler, among other things, Douglas served as an Assistant U. S. Attorney in Washington, D.C., where he received numerous awards and commendations including the U.S. Department of Justice’s Special Achievement Award. He also served as a federal law clerk to the Hon. Frank X Altimari of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York. In addition, he participated in the National Institute for Trial Advocacy and the U.S. Attorney General’s Trial and Appellate Advocacy institutes. In law school, he served as an associate articles editor on the Georgetown Law Journal and participated in the appellate advocacy clinic.