Shawn Matthew Clark

Clients of all sizes and stages rely on Shawn Matthew Clark for practical, business-focused advice to help them understand and navigate the constantly changing federal, state, and local laws governing the workplace. In particular, clients engage Shawn for his deep subject matter knowledge in business restructuring and unfair competition issues, and his skills as a litigator.

Business Restructuring and M&A. Shawn’s relatable style and ability to analyze and explain complex issues in simple terms have made him a highly sought-after advisor to businesses planning workforce reductions and reorganizations. Shawn counsels clients on compliance with federal and state Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Acts and the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (OWPBA). He also partners with clients to create comprehensive reduction-in-force plans that include reasoned business justifications, defensible selection criteria, adverse impact analyses, multistate severance agreements, and a clear communications strategy for affected and nonaffected employees. No two businesses or layoffs are the same, but Shawn’s pragmatic approach works for layoffs of a handful of employees and layoffs of thousands. He handles every reorganization with sensitivity to the individuals involved and the impact on each client’s business.

Unfair Competition and Trade Secrets. Companies also turn to Shawn for help protecting their trade secrets and enforcing their noncompete, nonsolicitation, and nondisclosure agreements. Shawn drafts the agreements, and when necessary, litigates claims related to those agreements, including claims for breach of contract, misappropriation of confidential information, theft of trade secrets, unfair competition, tortious interference, and breach of the duty of loyalty. Shawn advocates for and defends his clients vigorously. On behalf of a global professional services company, Shawn obtained a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction against three former employees based on breaches of their nonsolicitation and confidentiality obligations. Shawn also defended a noncompetition claim against an employee of a cloud-based data security company resulting in the denial of the request for a preliminary injunction and withdrawal of the claims.

Litigation and Trials. Shawn has extensive experience litigating employment disputes of all types, including defending employers and managers against claims of discrimination, retaliation, and harassment. On behalf of his clients, Shawn has won dispositive motions, temporary restraining orders, preliminary injunctions, defense verdicts, and appeals. He draws on that litigation experience to counsel employers on effective strategies for preventing litigation when possible, and preparing for litigation when it is unavoidable.

Shawn is a core group member of Littler’s Business Restructuring and M&A practice group and its Unfair Competition and Trade Secrets practice group.

Before entering private practice, Shawn gained significant litigation and trial experience as an assistant corporation counsel in the Labor and Employment Law Division of the New York City Law Department, where he represented the City of New York, its agencies, and its officers in employment litigation.

Before law school, Shawn worked in the United States Senate for members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), where he honed his communication and advocacy skills.