| |
|
|
| |
|
| |
| |
Downtown West Palm
Beach Office
Esperanté Building
222 Lakeview Avenue
Suite 210
West Palm Beach,
FL 33401
Phone: (561) 659-3300
Fax: (561) 659-1911
Northern Palm Beach
County Office
Greenway
Professional Center
4455 Military Trail
Suite 202
Jupiter, FL 33458
Phone: (561) 659-3300
Fax: (561) 253-1270 |
|
|
 |
| |
| Christopher S. Duke |
|
 email  vcard  561-253-2202
|
cduke@schwarzberglaw.com |
 |
Chris Duke focuses his practice on employment law and complex commercial litigation. He has extensive experience representing clients in Federal and State courts, as well as various arbitration forums and before Federal, State and local administrative bodies. His commercial litigation experience includes the prosecution and defense of both jury and bench trials, and he has successfully represented clients on appeal at both the State and Federal level.
Chris was formerly a partner in the Labor & Employment Group of Steel Hector & Davis LLP and was with the firm of Jones, Foster, Johnston & Stubbs, P.A |
|
|
| |
Areas of Experience |
- Labor and Employment
- Employee Discrimination
- Complex Commercial and Multidistrict Litigation
- Alternative Dispute Resolution
|
| |
Professional Experience |
- Extensive experience in Federal and State courts and various arbitration forums, concentrating in the areas of general commercial and employment litigation.
- Employment law practice includes representing management and municipalities in matters relating to the ADA, ADEA, FMLA, FLSA and Title VII before local, State, and Federal agencies and in State and Federal courts.
- Commercial litigation practice includes representing clients in State and Federal courts in the areas of fraud, tortious interference, business defamation, breach of contract, enforcement of noncompetition agreements and protection of trade secrets.
- Counseling and training of employers and employees on all aspects of employment law.
- Supervising and conducting internal investigations for management and responding to charges filed with Federal and State administrative agencies.
- Conducting legal audits of client workplaces to evaluate and ensure compliance with Federal, State and local law.
- Counseling high-level executives on contractual issues such as severance, termination and employment law compliance.
|
| |
Speeches and Conferences |
- Featured Speaker, South Florida Medical Group Management Association: The ABC's of Employee Handbooks, August 2006
- Featured Speaker at HR Florida Annual Conference Pre-conference Workshop: Non Traditional
- Protected Classes- Beyond Race, Sex, Religion and National Origin, October 2004
- Employment Law Update, Palm Beach County Medical Society, April 2003
- Conducting an Effective Internal Investigation, Sterling Education Services, May 2003
- Key Points of Time: Hiring and Firing, Lorman Education Services, April 2001
- Featured Speaker, Steel Hector & Davis Employment Law Seminar Series 2002 - 2005
- Featured Speaker, Schwarzberg Spector Duke & Rogers Employment Law Breakfast Series 2006
- Featured Speaker, Schwarzberg Spector Duke & Rogers Employment Law For Law Firms, 2006
|
| |
Reported Cases of Note |
- Rivera v. Torfino Enterprises, Inc., 2005 WL3179984 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005)
- Harris v. Florida Elections Commission, 235 F.3d 578 (11th Cir., 2000)
- Touchston v. McDermott, 234 F. 3d 1133 (11th Cir., 2000)
- Touchston v. McDermott, 234 F. 3d 116111th Cir., 2000)
|
| |
Professional Involvement |
- The Florida Bar, member
- Litigation Section
- Employment Law Section
- American Bar Association, member
- Litigation Section
- Labor and Employment Law Section
- Palm Beach County Bar Association, member
- Society for Human Resources Manager, member
- Human Resource Association of Palm Beach County, member
|
| |
Honors |
- Named by South Florida Legal Guide as one of South Florida’s Top "Up and Coming" Attorneys for years (2004, 2005, 2006,2007)
- Florida Trend Magazine "Legal Elite" (2006,2008)
|
| |
Community Involvement |
- Young Friends of the Kravis Center
- Young Friends of the Palm Beach Zoo
- Friend of MacArthur Beach State Park
- Active supporter and fundraiser, St. Baldrick's Foundation
- AFRICARE
|
| |
Education |
- University of Florida College of Law, J.D., 1991
- Davidson College, B.A., 1988
|
| |
Admitted to Practice |
- Florida, 1991
- U.S. District Court, Southern, Middle and Northern Districts of Florida
- Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals
- United States Supreme Court
|
| |
|
|
