ETHAN A. BRECHER is a partner at Liddle & Robinson, L.L.P. Mr. Brecher has tried as lead counsel and acted as second counsel in numerous employment and securities arbitrations and court cases, where he has represented mostly individuals. He has also represented hedge funds and small financial firms in employment cases. He has recovered tens of millions of dollars in arbitrator and jury awards and settlements for his clients. Mr. Brecher has also argued and won appeals in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second and Eleventh Circuits, and in New York State trial and appellate courts. He was named as a New York Super Lawyer in 2009, 2010 and 2011

Mr. Brecher's practice is devoted mostly to representing individuals in disputes involving their employment, including claims related to compensation (bonuses, salary and commissions); whistleblower complaints (including under Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank); age, race and gender discrimination; unfair competition (non-competition and non-solicitation agreements); defamation (libel and slander); breach of contract; promissory notes; fraud; wages (FLSA); and all other types of business torts. Mr. Brecher also represents individuals on claims involving securities fraud in their brokerage accounts (including claims of fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract). In one notable case, he tried an arbitration case to conclusion for a large group of investors who suffered losses based on fraudulent research reports concerning two well-known technology stocks issued by a major securities firm. After the multi-week arbitration concluded but before a decision was issued, the firm settled on highly favorable terms.

Besides litigating cases, Mr. Brecher has also negotiated directly and through mediation dozens of cases that have resulted in substantial six and seven figure settlements. He also negotiates employment agreements; non-competition, non-solicitation and gardening leave contracts; and severance packages for employees.

Mr. Brecher has authored the following articles that have been published in the New York Law Journal: The Treasury Department's "Compensation Czar", Theft of a Trade Secret is Now a Federal Crime, Brokerages Deal With Question of Unclean Hands, Putting the Reins on Employment Arbitration: Courts Safeguard Employee Rights, Provisional Relief in Aid of Arbitration, and Use of Subpoenas in Arbitration. Additionally, he co-authored a chapter in The Practicing Law Institute's "Securities Arbitration 2000" course book on the subject of discovery in securities arbitration. Other publications include "Compensation Claims in Securities Industry Arbitration," published in Compensation, Work Hours and Benefits, Proceedings of the New York University 57th Annual Conference on Labor (Wolters Kluwer 2009) and "Whistleblower Claims before the NASD and NYSE," published in Retaliation and Whistleblowers, Proceedings of the New York University 60th Annual Conference on Labor (Wolters Kluwer 2009).

Mr. Brecher serves as a member on the advisory board of New York University School of Law's Center for Labor and Employment Law and served as a member of the New York City Bar's Arbitration Committee. Mr. Brecher also speaks on employment law issues, including in 2006, 2009 and 2011 at the Annual NYU Workshop on Employment Law For Federal Judges, Sponsored by the Federal Judicial Center, the Dwight D. Opperman Institute of Judicial Administration & The Center for Labor and Employment Law at NYU School of Law.

Education

Mr. Brecher earned his J.D. degree at New York University School of Law in 1991, where he served as an articles editor on the law journal Annual Survey of American Law. He graduated from Cornell University with a B.A. in 1988, earning honors (cum laude) in History.

Bar Admissions

1991, Connecticut; 1992, New York and U.S. District Court, Southern and Eastern Districts of New York; 1995, U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit; 1996, U.S. Supreme Court and U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit; 1999, U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit; 2001, U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit

Significant Cases Tried and Won

Raedle v. Credit Agricole (tortious interference claim; New York federal jury awarded $1.023mm in lost wages, $600,000 in damages for reputational harm and $800,000 in punitive damages)(currently on appeal)

Hunt v. HSBC ($770,000 award on tortious interference claim)(NYSE)

Pedde v. ABN AMRO ($720,500 award on breach of employment contract and severance pay claim)(NYSE)

Kim v. CUSO ($539,000 on breach of contract and defamation claim)(FINRA)

Brooks v. MLIM ($210,000 on severance pay claim)(FINRA)

Tocco v. Walter J. Dowd ($180,000 in contract damages and order of expungement of defamatory Form U5)(FINRA)

Schwarzwaelder v. Smith Barney ($147,000 on finder's fee claim)(FINRA)

Appeals Argued and Won

Thys v. Fortis Sec. LLC, 74 A.D.3d 546, 903 N.Y.S.2d 368 (App Div, 1st Dept 2010)(reinstating conversion claim involving bonus)

Tocco v. Walter J. Dowd, Inc., 2009 NY Slip Op 32751[U] (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Nov. 20, 2009)(confirming arbitration award)

O'Hara v. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Ctr., 79 Fed. Appx. 471 (2d Cir. 2003)(reinstating retaliation claim)

Gibbs v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc., 99cv647 (U.S.D.C. ND Ga., April 1, 2001), aff'd, (11th Cir., 2002)(vacating arbitration award and reinstating Form U5 defamation claim)

Carlton v. Mystic Transportation, Inc., 202 F.3d 129 (2d Cir. 2000), cert denied, 530 U.S. 1261 (2000)(reversing summary judgment and reinstating age discrimination claim)

Mr. Brecher also wrote the briefs on the winning appeal in Glennon v. Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc., 83 F.3d 132 (6th Cir. 1996), where the Court upheld a NASD arbitration award of almost $1.5 million for defamation on a Form U-5. He also wrote the brief filed by his firm as amicus curiae, which the New York Court of Appeals accepted in Rosenberg v. Metlife, Inc., 8 N.Y.3d 359, 834 N.Y.S.2d 494, 866 N.E.2d 439 (2007), on whether defamatory statements on securities industry U5 forms are entitled to an absolute privilege