Paul G. Lannon Jr. is a partner in Holland & Knight's Litigation Section and a member of the firm's Labor, Employment and Benefits Group and Energy Team. He is co-chair of the Education Team and chair of the Non-Competition, Trade Secrets and Employee Defection Team. Mr. Lannon represents public and private companies in complex civil litigation, counsels businesses on asset protection and workplace issues, and advocates for management in employment disputes. Mr. Lannon also serves as the outside general counsel for several private universities, colleges and secondary schools in New England.
His litigation experience includes victorious trials, appeals, arbitrations and mediations, locally and nationally. He served as a special assistant district attorney and has twice argued First Amendment principles before the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. Mr. Lannon is also accomplished in representing energy services companies before state and federal agencies. In one of the first major federal cases after 9/11, he effectively argued to re-open the Port of Boston to supertanker traffic. Mr. Lannon defends professionals in malpractice and disciplinary actions and prepares witnesses for public testimony.
Outside courtrooms and hearings, Mr. Lannon’s experience includes leading both independent and internal investigation teams reporting on matters of financial fraud, false claims, regulatory compliance, protection of minors, sexual assault and harassment, and other workplace misconduct.
Non-Competition, Trade Secrets and Defecting Employees. Mr. Lannon regularly defends companies from unfair competition, improper solicitation of customers and employees, and unauthorized disclosure of trade secrets and other proprietary information across the country. He is national trial counsel on non-competition disputes for large healthcare and insurance companies. His non-compete work includes drafting multi-state agreements and developing company-wide asset protection policies.
Employment Counseling. Beyond unfair competition, Mr. Lannon advises employers on a broad range of employment matters, including asset protection, acquisitions and divestitures, human resource policies, wage and hour, reductions in force, executive contracts, leaves, severance, investigations, terminations, relocations and preventative training. He also regularly represents management in discrimination and other workplace disputes in state and federal courts and before administrative agencies.
Education. Mr. Lannon devotes a large part of his practice to advising private educational institutions on a broad range of matters, including tenure disputes, campus security, student conduct, policies and handbooks, Title IV compliance, Title IX gender discrimination and sexual assault, governance, contracts, regulatory issues and preventative training. He acts as general outside counsel to several colleges and secondary schools. He also represents educational institutions in state and federal courts, in U.S. Attorney and state Attorney General investigations, before the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights and Office of the Inspector General, and before other regulatory bodies. Mr. Lannon is a member of the National Association of College and University Attorneys, a former co-chair of the Boston Bar Association Section on College and University Law, a former editor of the Journal of College and University Law, and the current chair of the Editorial Board for the Boston Bar Journal. United Educators named Mr. Lannon a select counsel for the defense of secondary and post-secondary institutions. He has written and presented widely on education issues. Mr. Lannon has been honored in education law as one of the Best Lawyers in America, Boston's Best Lawyers, Massachusetts Super Lawyers and Who's Who.
Mr. Lannon clerked for The Honorable Joseph R. Nolan, Associate Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts (1992-93).
