Joseph D. Guarino

Investigations, Governance & Enterprise Risk

• Conduct sensitive internal investigations involving allegations of employee misconduct, whistleblower complaints, workplace issues, and other governance matters, advising boards and executive leadership on governance, remediation, and organizational strategy.
• Conducted an internal investigation for a major financial services company regarding alleged regulatory compliance violations and workplace misconduct.
• Advise a multinational real estate services company on global privacy and cybersecurity matters, including incident response, breach notification, regulatory compliance, and enterprise-wide privacy programs across multiple jurisdictions.
• Serve as international counsel on cross-border workforce, employment, and compliance matters, advising multinational organizations on global workforce strategy, regulatory developments, organizational change, and operational risk.
• Advised a global audience measurement and data analytics company on complex international employment matters, including multijurisdictional employee transfers, workforce integration following acquisitions, remote work initiatives, background check compliance, and strategic office closures.

Strategic Disputes

• Represent an industrial company in federal trade secret litigation involving alleged misappropriation, unfair competition, and fiduciary duty claims, securing an early procedural victory when the court denied the defendants' motion to dismiss.
• Defend a global business in litigation arising from a failed acquisition involving employee raiding, fiduciary duty, confidentiality, and non-solicitation claims, obtaining dismissal of key claims and a unanimous appellate affirmance.
• Defended a global life sciences company in Title VII litigation, securing summary judgment and a precedential Third Circuit affirmance.
• Defended a national waterworks distributor in multijurisdictional litigation involving claims of unfair competition and the alleged solicitation of employees and customers.
• Represented an international media organization in copyright litigation, securing dismissal of an individual employee defendant and partial dismissal of copyright management information claims at the pleading stage.
• Represent a commercial real estate developer in obtaining mandatory injunctive relief requiring execution of critical project documents, enabling a major development project to proceed.
• Secured a favorable judgment following a multi-day bench trial in a complex commercial dispute, including recovery of substantial damages, attorneys' fees, and costs.

Strategic Adviser

• Serve as a strategic adviser to multinational organizations facing complex legal, business, and reputational challenges across jurisdictions.
• Advise an international media organization on strategic matters involving intellectual property, First Amendment issues, and cross-border commercial arrangements.
• Counsel emerging biopharmaceutical companies on workforce, organizational, and employment matters arising from growth initiatives, restructurings, and transformational business events.

• Recognizing (and combatting) unemployment insurance fraud amid COVID-19, 16 September 2020
• Contact tracing apps: the promise and perils of automated tracking of COVID-19 exposure, 18 June 2020
• New Jersey to jump on the salary history "ban" wagon, 3 December 2019
• Co-author, "COVID-19 and the Workplace: Getting Comfortable with the Uncomfortable," New Jersey Law Journal, August 19, 2020
• Co-author, "The High Cost of Unpaid Interns," Law à la Mode, Issue 11 (Fall 2013)

• "Benjamin Moore Says Color Names Not Racist," Courthouse News Service (July 23, 2014)
• "Benjamin Moore Smears Suit That Paints Co. As Racist," Law360 (July 22, 2014)
• "Battling Blind POS Suits May Be Lost Cause For Retailers," Law 360 (May 23, 2014)
• "NJ Paid Sick Leave Bill Would Ensnare Even Smallest Cos.," Law360 (August 29, 2013)
• "Ex-Sedgwick Atty Ends Suit Over Firing For Bailiff Romance," Law360 (July 9, 2013)