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Thomas D. Rees 
Norristown, Pennsylvania
Partner
phone (610) 275-0700
fax (610) 275-5290
email Email Me

Mr. Rees heads High Swartz LLP's employment law practice. He serves employers on a wide spectrum of individual employment matters, including contract negotiation, preparation of policies and procedures, hiring and termination, and dispute resolution. Mr. Rees handles litigation in the areas of employment termination, restrictive employment covenants and trade secrets, employment discrimination, defamation, and employment contract disputes. Mr. Rees was named a ""Pennsylvania Super Lawyer of 2004"" in the area of employment law in Philadelphia Magazine and Law and Politics Magazine.

Mr. Rees has served for several years as Chair or Co-chair of the Employment Law Committee of the Montgomery County Bar Association. He has been a course planner and lecturer on employment law topics for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute and the Montgomery County Bar Association. These topics have included restrictive covenants and trade secrets, employment contracts, employment torts, sexual harassment issues, employment privacy, ethics in employment law practice, and overall surveys of new developments in employment law.

Mr. Rees is a contributor, with other lawyers across the country, to a 50-state survey entitled Tortious Interference Claims Arising From Restrictive Covenants in Employment Agreements: A State-by-State Survey. Mr. Rees prepared the survey of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware law on tortious interference for this work. The survey was prepared by the American Bar Association and will be published shortly.

Mr. Rees serves as an employment arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association. He is a member of the AAA's national panel of employment arbitrators.

Aside from employment matters, Mr. Rees also handles complex litigation and dispute resolution in the areas of land use and zoning law, education law, and government regulation. Mr. Rees has served in the past as a lecturer and author for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute on subdivision and land development law, zoning hearing board relief, intervention and standing in land use proceedings, and ethics in land use proceedings. He is a past Chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Municipal Law Section and past Chair of the Montgomery County Bar Association Real Estate and Land Use Planning Committee.

Mr. Rees has been a partner at High, Swartz LLP since 1987; he first joined the firm as counsel in 1985. Before joining High Swartz, Mr. Rees was an associate with Morgan, Lewis & Bockius in Philadelphia, and from 1981 to 1985 was Deputy General Counsel to Pennsylvania Governor Richard Thornburgh.

Areas of Practice:
Employment Law
Restrictive Employment Covenants and Trade Secrets
Real Estate
Land Use and Zoning Law
Education Law
Business Law
Government Regulation
Litigation Percentage:
50% of Practice Devoted to Litigation
Bar Admissions:
New York, 1976
Pennsylvania, 1977
U.S. District Court Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 1977
U.S. Court of Appeals 3rd Circuit, 1978
U.S. Supreme Court, 1982
Education:
University of Pennsylvania Law School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1975
J.D.


Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 1971
A.B.
Honors: Dean's List
Major:  Political Science


Published Works:
Restrictive Covenants & Trade Secrets, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, 2000


Restrictive Covenants & Trade Secrets, Employment Law Institute, 2001


Restrictive Covenants in the Professions, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, 2000


Employment Law, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Municipal Law Colloquium, 1993


Employment Law, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Municipal Law Colloquium, 1995


Employment Law, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Municipal Law Colloquium, 1997


Employment Law, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Municipal Law Colloquium, 1999


Employment Law, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Municipal Law Colloquium, 2001


Representative Cases:
Pottstown School Dist. v. The Hill School, 48 Pa.D.&C. 4th 365 (Court of Common Pleas, Montgomery County 2000)
Pottstown School Dist. v. The Hill School, 786 A.2d 312 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2001)
Representative Clients:
The Hill School
King of Prussia Chamber of Commerce
Delaware Valley Real Estate Information Network
Harcum College
Montgomery County Association of Retarted Citizens
Classes/Seminars Taught:
Employment Law Seminar, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, 1993 - 2001


Employment Law Seminar, Montgomery Bar Association, 1994 - 2000


Zoning/Land Use Law Seminar, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, 1990 - 1998


Faculty Member, Pennsylvania Bar Institute's Northeast Employment Law institute


Honors and Awards:
Kenneth R. Taylor Excellence in Chamber Service Award, King of Prussia Chamber of Commerce, 2001


"Pennsylvania Super Lawyer of 2001" in the area of employment law in Philadelphia Magazine and Law and Politics Magazine


Professional Associations and Memberships:
American Arbitration Association
Arbitrator, National Panel of Arbitrators (Employment and Commercial)


King of Prussia Chamber of Commerce, 1998 - Present
VP/General Counsel


Pennsylvania Bar Association, Municipal Law Section, 1993 - 1995
Chairman


Montgomery County Bar Association, 1996 - 1997
Chair/ Co-Chair, Employment Law Committee


Montgomery County Bar Association, 2000
Chair/ Co-Chair, Employment Law Committee


Past Employment Positions:
Office of the Governor, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Deputy General Counsel, 1981 - 1985


Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, Pennsylvania, Associate, 1977 - 1981


Lovejoy, Wasson, Lundgren & Ashton, New York City, Associate, 1975 - 1977


Practice Areas Overview
Office Location

High Swartz LLP
40 East Airy Street
Norristown, PA 19404

Phone: 610-275-0700
Fax: 610-275-5290
E-mail: Contact Us

Pennsylvania Super Lawyers 2007

Pennsylvania Super Lawyers
Super Lawyers names the top 5 percent of Pennsylvania lawyers, as chosen by their peers and through the independent research of Law & Politics.

Pennsylvania Rising Stars
Rising Stars names the top 2.5 percent of lawyers in Pennsylvania who are 40 or younger or have been in practice for 10 years or less.

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