© 2014 The Texas Lawbook.
By Mark Curriden – (September 22) – Many lawyers dream of being a big-time trial lawyer, handling only the most important, bet-the-company cases and charging top dollar for their services.
Stephen Fox lived that dream as a partner at Fish & Richardson for more than a decade, representing Fortune 500 companies in a plethora of complex labor and employment lawsuits.
“I want to be able to spend more time on the phone with my clients, to help them figure out problems and not have clients worry about top-of-the-market rates,” says Fox. “I still plan to handle major employment litigation, but I want to do more actual counseling.”
Fox says he loved his 11 years at Fish and remains friends with many of its lawyers.
“Because of its premium rate structure, Fish went after only the top 10 percent of the market,” he says. “My clients have many legal needs beyond what I could offer at Fish.”
Last year, Fox successfully defended Crossmark, Inc., the nation’s largest grocery merchandising broker, in a class action lawsuit that could have resulted in employment claims by 20,000 employees. In 2010, he won a $28 million jury verdict for a computer-game developer in a breach of stock option agreement dispute.
Fox joins a Polsinelli law firm that opened its Dallas office only three years ago but has witnessed tremendous growth. The firm has 30 lawyers.
“Steve brings significant litigation and courtroom experience and acumen to Polsinelli, as well as a reputation for advising top-tier executives,” says Dallas Managing Partner Jon Henderson.
“He’s a great match for our firm, and we are pleased to include his strategic guidance, enthusiasm and leadership in our office and nationally,” says Henderson. “Steve truly embraces and embodies the Polsinelli approach of lawyers working as one national firm without walls.”
Fox says the impressive part of Polsinelli’s growth is that the firm is hiring experienced lawyers who are not necessarily seeking to leave their law firms.
“The lawyers Polsinelli is attracting are not lawyers who are being forced out of their old law firms,” Fox says. “Polsinelli is hiring lawyers who could stay but have a desire to practice at a different kind of law firm.”
Fox says that he is starting to see the nature of disputes change as the economy has improved.
“Businesses are desperate for high quality talent and are going after those employed by competitors,” he says. “That raises questions of non-compete clauses and trade secret violations.”
The oil and gas boom is also leading to disputes over employment classifications regarding whether certain workers, such as roughnecks, security guards and truck drivers, are employees or contractors.
“The question is, who directs the work,” he adds. “If the company is directing the work, then the federal government views those workers as employees. The more control the company has over the worker, the more likely they are going to be classified as an employee.”
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