Marc Katz

Partner

Marc is a leading authority on global employment practices and trends, has a sophisticated, broad-based national litigation practice, and has been repeatedly recognized by Chambers USA, The Legal 500 United States and other law-firm research guides as a top practitioner in his field. Marc has significant experience representing corporate clients in high-stakes trade-secret, employee-mobility, restrictive-covenant and unfair-competition litigation, as well as fiduciary-duty and partnership disputes and collective and class-action litigation cases throughout the nation.

Throughout his 30-plus-year career, Marc has served as the lead trial lawyer in some of the most complex and high-dollar employment cases in a wide variety of jurisdictions and venues. His deep expertise in employment laws, practices and trends, coupled with his trial skills and experience, make him an unparalleled resource for corporate clients.

More specifically, Marc’s practice involves complex litigation across numerous industries, including significant matters for sports franchises, entertainment organizations, financial institutions, hedge and private equity funds, health-care institutions, pharmaceutical and medical-device companies, managed-care entities, and retail and manufacturing operations. This litigation has involved commercial and contract disputes, employment-law issues, governmental investigation and regulatory issues, public- and private-company disputes, ERISA, trade-secret and other intellectual-property matters, fiduciary obligations, shareholder-derivative litigation and high-net-worth-individual disputes.

For more than 15 years, at two leading global law firms, Marc led the labor and employment practices and served in numerous management positions.

Locations

Dallas

2200 Ross Ave. | Ste. 4200W
Dallas, TX 75201

Representative Experience

Marc’s other trial experience as lead counsel include:

  • Lead counsel for a private equity investment advisor and one of its portfolio companies in a lawsuit against the portfolio company’s former executive team and a competitive private equity investment advisor, based on corporate usurpation, conspiracy, breach of fiduciary duty and misappropriation of trade secrets, in which Marc’s client was seeking in excess of $700 million. After nine weeks of trial, on the eve of closing arguments, the case ended with an extremely favorable settlement for Marc’s client.
  • Represented a large private equity investment advisor with $20 billion of assets under management, along with its president and founder, in litigation involving fiduciary duty, as well as shareholder-derivative, defamation and contractual claims, in which the recovery being sought against Marc’s clients was $200 million. After an almost four-week trial, Marc obtained a take-nothing verdict in favor of his clients, along with a recovery of $2.8 million in attorneys’ fees for his clients.
  • Successfully obtained dismissal of a patent-infringement action in which damages sought against Marc’s client were in excess of $500 million.
  • Obtained a transfer of intellectual-property rights in favor of a major jewelry manufacturer whose patents and other intellectual property had been misappropriated by the former president and chief executive officer.
  • Successfully reached a defense verdict on a commercial-fraud case in which damages sought against the client were in excess of $100 million.
  • Achieved a total victory in favor of the former president of a national health insurance company in a noncompetition and trade-secret trial.
Credentials

Bar Admissions

  • Colorado
  • New York
  • Texas

Court Admissions

  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas

Education

  • J.D., University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (1994)
  • B.A., Emory University (1991)

Bylines

  • Co-Author, “Employment Issues Facing Energy Companies in 2021 and Beyond,” POWER Magazine, January 4, 2021
  • Co-Author, “COVID-19 Employment Law: New and Emerging Compliance Challenges,” Texas Lawyer, December 2020
  • Co-Author, “Employment Law in the Year of COVID-19: A Review of New and Emerging Compliance Challenges Facing Employers in 2020 and Beyond,” Texas Lawyer, October 2020
  • Staying on Top of New Management Liability Regulations and Their Impact on Employers Inside the Minds: Protecting Corporations Against Management Liability Claims — Leading Lawyers on Analyzing Developments in Employment Regulations, Investigating and Responding to Allegations, and Creating Effective Compliance Strategies, Aspatore Books, 2013
  • Understanding Key Changes in Employment Law Regulations and Their Impact on Defense Strategies Inside the Minds: Strategies for Employment Litigation — Leading Lawyers on Successfully Litigating and Settling Employment Claims, Aspatore Books, 2012
  • Instructor, DAYL Trial Skills Boot Camp, 2015-2017
  • “Trade Secret Claims Under the Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act,” September 17, 2015
  • “Decision Dynamics in Non-Compete Cases,” UT CLE 2015 Non-Compete Camp: Drafting, Litigating and Trying Non-Competes, September 3, 2015
  • “Pertinent Trends Affecting Energy Sector and Compliance Issues During Corporate Layoffs,” March 12, 2015
News & Insights
Honors & Awards
  • Chambers USA
    • Band 3, Texas Labor & Employment, (2023-2025)
    • Band 4, Texas Labor & Employment, (2018-2022)
  • The Legal 500 United States
    • Recommended, Workplace and Employment Counseling, (2023-2025)
    • Recommended, Labor-Management Relations, (2023-2025)
    • Recommended, Labor and Employment Disputes (Including Collective Actions): Defense, (2018-2025)

Other Recognitions

  • The Best Lawyers in America for Litigation – Labor and Employment (2024)
  • Best Lawyers in Dallas, D Magazine, (2011-2012, 2014-2021)
  • Super Lawyers by Thomson Reuters, published in Texas Monthly (2015-2020)
  • Top 100 Texas Lawyers and Top 100 Dallas/Fort Worth Lawyers (2015-2016)
  • Mentor of the Year, Dallas Urban Debate League (2010-2011)
  • Texas Rising Star, Super Lawyers by Thomson Reuters, published in Texas Monthly (2004-2009)
  • Dallas Chamber of Commerce, Dallas Leadership Program (2006)
  • Best Lawyers Under 40 in Dallas, D Magazine (2004)
  • Board Certified – Labor and Employment Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization
  • Texas Association of Business & Chambers of Commerce, Associate Editor