Allison Averbuch
Biography
Allison Averbuch is a Partner in our Atlanta office, and she focuses her practice on employment law counseling, internal investigations, and litigation. She also defends clients in education, government liability, and general liability claims.
Allison works with companies of all sizes in financial services, health care, manufacturing, logistics, food service, hospitality, and other industries and helps them navigate the complexities of a wide variety of labor and employment matters.
Allison advises clients on issues at all stages of employment from hiring to termination, including contractual and transactional issues involving breach of contract, non-competition and non-solicitation agreements, trade secrets and protection of confidential information, and negotiation of severance agreements.
She also counsels clients on day-to-day issues such as employee discipline, terminations, severance, FMLA and other leave laws, disability accommodations, and provides employers with strategic business advice on critical human resources issues that arise out of the employment relationship, with an emphasis on preventing future disputes and minimizing risk. She routinely conducts workplace investigations on sexual harassment, discrimination, bullying and other alleged offenses, and advises businesses in the critical areas of wage and hour compliance and drafting and enforcing restrictive covenants.
Allison has a robust and detailed in-house training program for clients, which covers best practices and strategies for avoiding employment litigation. She develops employee handbooks, policies, and procedures to ensure compliance with state and federal law and is often called to conduct workplace investigations or reviews of actions taken to assess risk and exposure.
Allison litigates employment cases at all stages, from pre-suit reviews and investigations to the EEOC process, through dispositive motions and trial. She has a successful track record for getting employment discrimination suits dismissed through an effective motions practice, and she has experience defending employers in both single-plaintiff and class-action discrimination and wage-and-hour cases.
Allison earned a Juris Doctor, summa cum laude, from the Georgia State University, where she was inducted into the Order of the Coif, served as the Symposium Editor for the Georgia State Law Review, and was a pupil in the Bleckley Inn of Court. She completed a Bachelor of Arts in English, cum laude, from the College of William and Mary.
Experience
Allison counsels clients of all sizes on a wide range of labor and employment matters from hiring to termination, and her strategic approach helps companies minimize risk while efficiently resolving disputes and claims that arise. She specializes in contractual matters such as employment and non-compete agreements as well as restrictive covenants and wage and hour compliance.
She also conducts internal investigations and represents clients through the EEOC process, motions, and trial. Her detailed and practical training program and creation of employee handbooks and policies help clients avoid issues and ensure compliance with state and federal laws.
COVID-19 is continuing to present novel issues for employers from religious accommodation requests to leave issues under evolving federal and state law. Allison collaborates with clients on solutions to emerging issues as they come in the door.
Allison’s experience includes defending employers in individual discrimination employment disputes and both multi-plaintiff and class action litigation involving wage and hour (Fair Labor Standards Act) issues. She has also defended cases before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
In addition to her litigation work, she has experience involving non-competition agreements, misappropriation of trade secret,s and breach of contract claims. Allison has experience conducting internal investigations of employment issues, including investigations at the executive level.
Credentials
Admitted
State Courts:
- Georgia
- Court of Appeals, Supreme Court
U.S. District Courts:
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
- U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia
U.S. Courts of Appeals:
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
Education
- J.D., summa cum laude, Georgia State University
- B.A., cum laude, College of William and Mary
Memberships
- American Bar Association
Recognition
- Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America, Best Lawyers®, 2021-2024
- Labor and Employment Law – Management
- Litigation – Labor and Employment
- Scholarship and Leadership Award, Georgia State University College of Law
- Outstanding Law Student Award, Georgia Association for Women Lawyers
- Outer Barrister’s Guild Award
- David J. Maleski Prize for Excellence in Torts, Georgia State University
Presentations
- Employment Law Trends to Watch
ESIS Leadership Forum; October 1, 2019 - Cyber Security Awareness and Your Employees
HBS Women’s Forum, July 2019
Publications
- The Uncertain Future of Non-Competes After President Biden’s July 2021 Executive Order
HBS Employment Updates Blog; October 28, 2021 - Are Employer-Mandated Vaccinations Coming to an Office Near You?
HBS Employment Updates Blog; October 6, 2021