Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani recently elevated Sean Flaherty, Brook Barnes and Jacob Grillot to partnership. The three partners are based in the firm's San Diego office.
“These three outstanding attorneys reflect both the firm’s broad national reach as well as the substantive depth of our practice groups,” said Kevin Alexander, San Diego office managing partner. “They have worked hard and demonstrated a high level of commitment to Gordon & Rees and we are very pleased to welcome them into the partnership ranks.”
Sean Flaherty is a member of the Intellectual Property, Business Transactions and Sports, Media and Entertainment Practice groups. Mr. Flaherty represents clients in all phases of litigation and has experience handling patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret, and unfair competition cases. Mr. Flaherty has successfully pursued and defended actions in both federal and state courts as well as before administrative agencies. As a licensed patent attorney, he counsels clients through all aspects of patent and trademark prosecution and assists clients in building and maintaining their intellectual property portfolios. He works closely with clients to develop real-world strategies aimed at maximizing the value of their IP, whether through acquisition, licensing, or enforcement. Mr. Flaherty counsels clients through business events, including manufacturing, distribution, and licensing transactions. His industry experience includes internet marketing, apparel manufacturing, sporting equipment, action sports, auto racing, and medical devices. Mr. Flaherty has negotiated, structured, and formalized branding collaborations, strategic alliances, and technology licenses.
Brook Barnes is a member of the Employment practice group. He represents employers in all aspects of labor and employment litigation including claims for improper wage deductions, failure to pay wages, failure to pay overtime wages, failure to provide meal periods and rest breaks, misclassification of employees, inaccurate wage statements, commission calculations, wrongful termination, Private Attorney General Act (“PAGA”) claims, class actions, and retaliatory and discriminatory employment actions. Mr. Barnes provides local and national companies general counsel on business and employment law issues, including human-resource policies, employee handbooks, employment agreements, independent contractor agreements, non-disclosure agreements, distribution agreements, employee compensation plans, federal and state wage-and-hour compliance, Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) compliance, The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance, unfair business practices, and business formation and dissolution.
Jacob Grillot is a member of the Employment Law practice group. He has extensive experience defending private and public entities throughout California in employment litigation including discrimination, harassment, defamation, breach of contract, and wage and hour claims. Additionally, he frequently represents employers in administrative forums including arbitrations, evidentiary hearings, and before state and federal agencies such as the DLSE, DFEH, and EEOC. He regularly advises employers on all aspects of personnel matters including contract interpretation, internal complaints, developing and revising policies, addressing employee discipline and performance issues, and ADA/FLMA leave issues. In addition, Mr. Grillot is an experienced investigator who conducts investigations into allegations of discrimination, harassment, and other employment-related claims. He has experience representing employers in labor relations matters including unfair labor practice charges, interpretation of collective bargaining agreements, responding to formal and informal union grievances, and representing employers at employee discipline hearings pursuant to negotiated procedures. He frequently delivers trainings on topics such as sexual harassment, investigation procedures, and responding to records requests.