Damian Cavaleri represents clients in all capacities and litigates and arbitrates a wide breadth of business and employment-related disputes. He handles all aspects of litigation, including discovery, motion practice, trial, and appeal, and has litigated in federal and state courts in New York. He also counsels clients regarding employment agreements, employment separation agreements, and non-competition restrictions and covenants.
In one precedent-setting case, Damian represented a financial services firm whose former employee had stolen client data and other trade secrets. Damian asserted a claim under the Defend Trade Secrets Act, convincing a SDNY judge to order the seizure of files contained on the defendant’s computer – the first seizure order ever issued under the Act. Then, working from scratch, his team developed a process for carrying out such seizures, which have now become the blueprint for others.
Damian also recently represented one of the advertising industry’s top executives (the former head of North American sales at Verizon) who had landed a career-defining job – and a $12 million contract – as the head of advertising at Warner Media. But when Verizon’s threat to enforce an overly broad noncompete clause scuttled the deal (even after a ruling on a TRO that Verizon was unlikely to succeed in its enforcement), Damian was able to secure a rare ruling when the trial court permitted his client’s claim for tortious interference to proceed to trial. This matter is currently pending before the New York Court of Appeals.
This past year, Damian also represented an employer in an action against a former employee/founder for fraud and moonlighting. He was able to leverage the litigation for a settlement where the former employee returned a significant equity interest in the employer.
Damian is a member of the Federal Bar Council and serves as co-chair of the Employment Litigation Subcommittee of the Commercial and Federal Litigation Section of the New York State Bar Association. Damian has been recognized as a “Litigation Star” since 2021 and “Labor and Employment Star” since 2023 by Benchmark Litigation and recognized on the “40 & Under List from 2019-2022, named an Employment Law Trailblazer by The National Law Journal, shortlisted for Euromoney Legal Media Group’s inaugural 2018 Americas Rising Star Award for “Best in Litigation: Trial Lawyer,” and has been named a New York Metro Super Lawyers “Rising Star” from 2015-2017 and “Super Lawyer” from 2021-2024.
Damian has an affinity for the arts and serves as a trustee for the Kaufman Music Center. He is admitted to practice before the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Southern Districts and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Damian previously practiced at Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP.
Education:
- Cornell Law School (J.D.)
- University of California, Berkeley (B.A.)
Updated Sep 2024
