Paul H. Derrick is a Partner in the Raleigh office of Cranfill Sumner & Hartzog LLP, where he focuses in the Labor and Employment Law and Litigation Practice Groups. He regularly provides preventive and strategic advice and litigates individual and multi-plaintiff claims for breaches of restrictive covenants, unfair competition and theft of trade secrets, discrimination of all types, retaliation, employment-related torts, wage-hour, and more.
Paul began his legal career as a trial attorney in the National Labor Relations Board's regional office in New Orleans, Louisiana, and was trial counsel in the nation's first “union salting” case. In the two decades since leaving government practice, he has successfully represented employers across the country before federal and state courts, administrative and investigative agencies, and arbitration tribunals concerning a broad range of employment law and constitutional issues.
Paul also assisted in the development and prosecution of a successful civil racketeering case against nearly 500 defendants and he has handled class action lawsuits involving a wide variety of alleged violations. In 2008, he was selected as a fellow in Litigation Counsel of America. LCA is an invitation-only trial lawyer honorary society composed of less than one-half of one percent of American lawyers.
Paul is a presenter for several national seminar organizations and regularly trains in-house counsel, human resource professionals, and managers on supervisory issues, positive employee relations, and related topics. He is a longtime supporter of many professional and civic entities and is widely published on a variety of labor and employment topics.
Paul is the author of the blog Workplace Update, which focuses on giving both startup and ongoing businesses useful information on labor and employment law developments from all over the country, particularly in the Carolinas and the Southeast. It can be accessed at http://www.workplaceupdate.com.
Articles Presentations and Publications
•“Employment Nightmares in the Retail Industry: What's Keeping You Up at Night, ? ” (The Retailer, April 2014).
•Co-author: “Secret's Out. Trade Secrets Remain Important Component of Company IP, ” (IP Links, June 2013).
•“Be Careful When Enforcing Employment Agreements - The NLRB is Watching, ” (Success, March/April 2013).
•“EEOC's New Age Discrimination Regulations Appear to Miss the Mark, ” (The Defender, June 2012).
•“EEOC's New Age Discrimination Regulations Appear to Miss the Mark, ” (The Resource, April 2012).
•Quoted: “EEOC Expands 'Disabled' Definition, ” ( InsideCounsel Magazine, June 2011).
•Quoted in “Layoffs Lead to Grumbles, and They Beget Lawsuits, ” (Triangle Business Journal, May 6, 2011).
•“The ADAAA Final Regulations Have Arrived; Were They Worth the Two-Year Wait?, ” (HR News Magazine (International Public Management Association), May 2011).
•“Labor Board Edges to Pro-Union Stance, ” (The News and Observer, Nov. 17, 2010).
•“Deja Vu All Over Again: NLRB Decides Nonunion Employees Have No Right to Representation During Investigatory Interview, ” (South Carolina Lawyer, September 2004).
•“Of E-mail, Employees, and the NLRB, ” (South Carolina Business Journal, June 2002).
•“Unions Now Able to Organize Temporary Workers, ” (South Carolina Lawyer, May/June 2001).
•“Employee Investigations: Representation Rights Extended to Nonunion Employees, ” (South Carolina Lawyer, Jan./Feb. 2001).
•Contributing Author: “Privacy and Defamation in the Workplace, ” (The COMMENT Series, M. Lee Smith Publishers, 1995).
•Contributing Author: “Management's Guide to Union Organizing Campaigns, ” (The COMMENT Series, M. Lee Smith Publishers, 1994).
•Contributing Author: “Americans with Disabilities Act, Compliance Guidebook, ” (King & Ballow, M. Lee Smith Publishers, 1992).
•Contributing Author: “Fair Labor Standards Act Compliance, ” (The COMMENT Series, M. Lee Smith Publishers, 1992).
Accomplishments
•Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America in the fields of Employment Law-Management and Litigation-Labor & Employment: 2012 - 2015
•Selected by North Carolina Super Lawyers as a Super Lawyer: 2012 - 2015
•Selected for inclusion in the 2014 Super Lawyers Business Edition
