Jack Blum

Practice Areas

Employment Litigation, Arbitration & Dispute Resolution

Labor & Employment

Government Contracts

OFCCP & Affirmative Action Plans

Class Action & Multidistrict Litigation

Career

Jack Blum is an experienced employment law advisor and litigator. Jack has extensive experience defending employers against all manner of claims by their employees in federal and state courts, as well as before government agencies like the OFCCP, EEOC, and state human rights commissions, including:

- Employment discrimination, harassment, and retaliation

- Non-compete, trade secret, and restrictive covenant litigation

- Wage and hour class and collective actions

- Employment contract and wage payment disputes involving highly-compensated employees

- Independent contractor/employee misclassification claims and audits

Jack particularly focuses on representing government contractor employers. Jack guides clients through OFCCP audits, framing the client’s hiring, compensation, and other personnel practices and data to preemptively address potential OFCCP concerns to avoid extensive agency inquiries. When OFCCP does challenge a client’s practices, Jack has successfully defended against OFCCP’s claims of discrimination. Jack also advises contractors on compliance with their obligations under the Davis-Bacon Act, Service Contract Act, and a wide range of FAR and DFAR clauses.

Jack also frequently represents parties in employee mobility litigation, including claims involving non-competition, non-solicitation, and confidentiality agreements, trade secret misappropriation, and business torts asserted against former employees and competitors that hire them. As employers face significant competitive harm from an employee’s theft of customer or technical information, Jack is prepared to take immediate decisive action to obtain a temporary restraining order preventing improper competition. Significantly, Jack has experience in both prosecuting and defending employee mobility claims and is able to offer clients a well-rounded assessment of their options and courses of action.

Jack also works closely with in-house counsel, human resources personnel, and business executives to craft compliant personnel policies that meet the client’s business requirements. Jack advises clients regarding employee/independent contractor classifications, onboarding employees subject to restrictive covenants, reductions in force, and internal investigations of sensitive harassment and potential whistleblower allegations. Jack also walks clients through sensitive terminations to reduce the potential for litigation or at least best position the client in the event that litigation is inevitable. Jack draws heavily upon this counseling experience in representing clients in litigation.

During law school, Jack served as a legal intern in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of the Inspector General where he contributed to several high-profile internal investigations, and also interned with the Maryland Attorney General’s Office.

Professional Memberships

Chair, Federal Bar Association Labor and Employment Law Section; Volunteer Leadership Board, StreetWise Partners; Alumni Council, St. Mary’s College of Maryland