Bill Long has been engaged in complex commercial litigation since 1979, representing clients both domestically and internationally. Throughout his career, one of his primary areas of emphasis has been that of restrictive covenants, non-compete agreements, trade secrets, unfair competition, and breaches of duties of loyalty and fiduciary obligations. He has achieved scores of victories in both federal and state courts on behalf of both employers and employees.
Bill understands the importance of keeping his clients advised of all available options, including settlement, at every point in the litigation process, but notes that he takes great satisfaction in prevailing over an obstinate opponent who refuses to settle. His trial practice and counseling in the non-compete area are divided fairly evenly among representation of employers wishing to enforce covenants, employees wishing to invalidate covenants, and companies wishing to hire employees who are under restraints with former employers. His employment litigation practice also includes defending employers against discrimination, harassment, and FLSA claims.
Bill also handles financial institution litigation, securities litigation, Uniform Commercial Code cases, and general corporate and business litigation. He is equally at home in the trial court, the appellate court, and the arbitration chamber, including FINRA arbitrations. Although he loves the drama and strategy involved in courtroom battle, he nevertheless spends a great deal of his time working with clients to enable them to avoid litigation if possible through careful planning before the crises develop.
Publications
Products Liability - Corporations - Asset Sales and Successor Liability, 44 Tennessee Law Review 905 (1977)
Professional Activities
- Atlanta Bar Association
- Georgia State Bar
- American Bar Association
Honors and Awards
- Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America© in the fields of Commercial Litigation, Litigation - Labor and Employment, 2015 – Present
- Super Lawyers Honoree, 2006, 2009, 2014 - 2018
Experience
Any result the lawyer or law firm may have achieved on behalf of clients in other matters does not necessarily indicate similar results can be obtained for other clients.
- Served as lead counsel in successful representation of IRA Custodians against a $900,000,000 RICO/breach of fiduciary duty claim brought by a bankruptcy trustee arising from a massive Ponzi scheme, securing dismissal of the case in what the Eleventh Circuit termed a case of first impression.
- Served as lead counsel for a Chinese metals recycler located in Hong Kong against a number of domestic vendors in connection with the client’s purchase of numerous container loads of insulated copper wire, asserting claims for breach of contract, fraud, state RICO violations, and related causes of action. The client obtained significant recovery. As a result, Bill was asked to represent a German metals recycler with identical claims against the same vendors and achieved a similar excellent result for that client.
- Has protected numerous clients by obtaining final injunctive relief, damages, and attorney’s fees against defecting employees for misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of restrictive covenants, and/or breach of fiduciary duties.
- On the flip side, Bill has successfully defended numerous former employees and their new employers against claims by a former employer of wrongful competition, breach of WCSR 40590915v1 fiduciary duty, and breach of contract, often by demonstrating that the operative agreements were unconstitutional.
- Served as lead counsel for a broker dealer in a 5-day FINRA arbitration based on an action brought by disgruntled former registered representatives of the client. Bill and his team not only won the case in chief, but also prevailed on the client’s counterclaims for misappropriation of trade secrets and breach of restrictive covenants, obtaining injunctive relief, damages, and award for all attorney’s fees the client was forced to incur in connection with the matter, which were significant.
