Overview

Companies facing complicated disputes, especially over intellectual property or proprietary information, turn to attorney Jim Flynn for creative solutions. Jim is known among clients and colleagues for his willingness to tackle unusual challenges and act quickly in time-sensitive matters.

To help clients prevail in high-stakes trade secret and data theft cases, he applies novel arguments that stand up to scrutiny, even as the law continues to evolve.

Jim brings a distinct business sensibility to managing the risks clients face in dealing with their employees. He is committed to putting legal challenges into a broader perspective. Whether confronted with situations involving employee access to confidential information, employment policy enforcement, or commercial agreement disputes, his incisive advice helps employers achieve their business goals. In addition to litigation, he advises on policy development, staffing changes, and noncompete agreements, helping clients weigh their options and prepare for outcomes. In larger transactional matters, Jim asks the right questions to produce clear and unvarnished due diligence and third-party assessments. He frequently speaks and writes about employment law, copyrights and trademarks, confidentiality, trade secrets, evidence rules, trial practice, and attorney ethics.

Focus Areas

Experience

Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances.

  • Secured a conviction and sentencing for Becton Dickinson after a departing employee downloaded confidential information and trade secrets. Jim obtained an ex parte civil injunction while convincing law enforcement to execute search and arrest warrants that stopped the employee from fleeing the country and replicating a soon-to-be-launched autoinjector-type product.
  • Won a jury verdict for Becton Dickinson after a high-level executive claimed multiple whistleblower violations. The aggressive defense against all claims convinced the jury to rule in his client’s favor and to affirm that the plaintiff had made defamatory statements about the company.
  • Obtained dismissal of a pension plan mismanagement claim brought against Alcatel-Lucent (now Nokia) that exposed the company to multibillion-dollar liability. Though the company also faced challenges by unions and individual employees and retirees, Jim successfully avoided liability for his client.
  • Won dismissal of misfeasance, malfeasance, and fraud claims in connection with PRA Health Science’s clinical trials. In a challenging matter involving complex choice of law, limitations, and other legal issues, Jim is defending PRA’s U.S. entity and its Dutch affiliate in multijurisdictional litigation. To date, Jim has had one of the actions dismissed in New York, defeated attempts to transfer another from Delaware to Minnesota, and had claims against the Dutch affiliate dismissed.
  • Obtained a jury verdict in a trademark and fraud action concerning popular music group The Drifters. As lead trial and appellate counsel, Jim established that a rival had defrauded the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to obtain registration and secured his clients’ common law priority right to the mark.

Recognition

  • Listed in The Best Lawyers in America©, Commercial Litigation (2015 to 2024). This award is conferred by Best Lawyers. A description of the selection methodology is available here. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.
  • Recognized by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, New Jersey—Labor & Employment (2016 to 2023). This award is conferred by Chambers and Partners. A description of the selection methodology is available here. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.
  • Recognized by The Legal 500 United States, Labor and Employment Disputes (Including Collective Actions): Defense (2018 to 2021); Workplace and Employment Counseling (2019 to 2023). This award is conferred by The Legal 500. A description of the selection methodology is available here. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.
  • Selected to the Litigation Counsel of America (trial lawyer honorary society composed of less than one-half of one percent of American lawyers) as a Fellow (2022). This fellowship was conferred by the Litigation Counsel of America. A description of the selection methodology is available here. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.
  • Listed in New Jersey Super Lawyers, Employment & Labor: Employer and Employment Litigation: Defense (2006, 2007, 2009, 2011 to 2023). This award is conferred by Thomson Reuters. A description of the selection methodology is available here. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.

Credentials

Education

  • Harvard Law School (J.D., cum laude, 1990)
  • Wesleyan University (B.A., 1987)
    • Davenport Prize: Established in 1948 by the gift of Ernest W. Davenport in honor of his brother, Frederick Morgan Davenport, Class of 1889, for excellence shown by seniors in the field of government and politics.
    • Joe Barry Morningstar Award: To the varsity basketball player who best exemplifies sportsmanship, leadership, determination, and unselfishness.

Bar Admissions

Court Admissions

Professional & Community Involvement

  • American Bar Association
  • John C. Lifland American Inn of Court for Federal Litigation & Intellectual Property, Co-Director (2021 to 2023)
  • New Jersey State Bar Association
  • Law360 Legal Industry Advisory Board (2022)
  • Leadership Council on Legal Diversity

Media

Events

Insights

Insights

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