Second Opinion & Escalation Counsel

Clients frequently engage Jonathan Pollard to provide a second opinion on active high-stakes litigation or arbitration matters and – in some instances – to take a leading role in guiding those matters to resolution.

Second Opinion on Existing Litigation or Arbitration

     From the beginning of his career at Boies, Schiller & Flexner to the present day, Pollard has been involved in a wide range of complex litigation and arbitration, much of which has focused on antitrust, non-compete law, trade secrets, false advertising, and unfair competition. Noteworthy representative matters include:

• Substantial involvement in legal strategy related to representing hundreds of investors in the Fairfield Greenwich Group feeder funds in connection with the Madoff Ponzi scheme.
• Successful representation of numerous C-level and corporate executives in complex, high-stakes non-compete matters where millions of dollars were at issue.
• Multiple cases resolved in favor of Pollard’s client for $1 million or more where a substantial part of the litigation focused on defending the client against non-compete claims.
• Successful resolution of numerous multi-front, high-stakes matters involving non-compete agreements, trade secrets, fiduciary duty, fraud, and/or unfair competition claims.
• Successful pursuit of appeals in Florida’s appellate courts and the United States Court of Appeals for the 11^th
• Successful pursuit of emergency motion to stay injunction and contempt orders pending appeal.
• Successful utilization of a broad range of case resolution strategies, including counterclaims, separate lawsuits, arbitration, mediation, removal, consolidation, and bankruptcy/reorganization.
• Numerous published federal court decisions on non-compete, trade secret, and false advertising law in support of his positions.
• Multiple engagements as a testifying or consulting expert on non-compete, antitrust, and unfair competition law. This includes engagement as plaintiff’s expert in a $15 million legal malpractice case against one of the nation’s largest law firms.

The world of commercial and complex commercial litigation is riddled with dysfunction. There are many cases filed that are poorly conceived from the outset. On the other side, companies often spend hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars to litigate cases that should have been resolved early for a fraction of the possible litigation spend. In many instances, litigation becomes a runaway train that burns money with no end in sight.

Pollard utilizes his background and experience to evaluate existing matters or disputes and provide his own typically blunt guidance regarding litigation strategy. Pollard does not outsource this type of consulting to associates or other attorneys. He conducts his own review of case dockets, key filings, and pertinent background materials. He then provides a written outline of his recommendations for achieving the client’s goals. He provides this limited engagement litigation consulting on a flat fee basis.

Representative second opinion engagements include:

• Providing strategic guidance to multiple individuals and their corporate entity regarding their defense of non-compete, trade secret, and fiduciary duty claims that had been in litigation for more than two years.
• Providing strategic guidance to a substantial privately held company regarding defense of non-compete related claims for poaching/raiding and pursuit of potential offensive claims for, inter alia, false advertising and unfair competition.
• Providing a comprehensive risk/reward assessment of long-running trade secret and unfair competition litigation, including evaluation of client’s possible recovery and possible exposure (including fee exposure) for use in connection with assessing settlement posture.

Escalation Counsel

           In some instances, after providing a second opinion, Pollard becomes active in the litigation as escalation counsel. This can take the form of Pollard formally appearing in the matter, or, Pollard quarterbacking the litigation without formally entering the case. The later is preferable. Over the past several years, numerous clients have engaged Pollard as escalation counsel, often resulting in near-term resolution of complex, high-stakes matters. In such matters, Pollard and Pollard PLLC prefer – to the greatest extent possible – that the client retain its existing counsel as lead or primary counsel. Pollard becomes the litigation quarterback, or, in certain particularly complex instances, functions as a company’s outside general counsel. The scope of these engagements varies by matter, as does the fee arrangement. Because Pollard must personally perform all or nearly all of the work related to these engagements, those fees are quite substantial.