Brian Clarke is an accomplished employment lawyer, professor, author, and former judge.  He received his Juris Doctor, magna cum laude and Order of the Coif, from Washington & Lee University School of Law in 1999 and his Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1995.  Brian’s path to representing employees in employment disputes has been long and winding, with each stop on his professional journey bringing new insights and perspectives, as well as deepening his expertise.  

‍Forged on the Employer-Side

‍Brian’s path – like Josh’s – began on the employer’s side of the table.  He started his career in his hometown of Greensboro, N.C. in the fall of 1999.  He joined a well-respected, mid-sized firm where one of the founding partners would tell stories of carrying Brian around the office as an infant.  It was here that Brian took his first deposition (on his literal first day of work) and tried his first cases.  Shortly, Brian’s practice focused on defending employers in employment-related litigation, as well as litigating wage & hour and covenant not to compete cases for employers and, occasionally, employees.  

In 2007, Brian moved with his family to Charlotte and joined Littler Mendelson PC, the largest and most well-known employment law defense firm in the world.  There, Brian defended some of the largest employers in the country in discrimination and hostile work environment harassment matters; compensation and wage payment disputes; and non-compete/trade secrets cases, among other things.  He also counseled employers on compliance with the full range of employment laws (both state and federal) and drafted employment agreements, employment policies, and compensation plans for nationally known companies.  

During his time on the employer/management side, Brian won significant victories in state and federal trial courts across North Carolina and argued and won important cases in both the North Carolina Supreme Court and the North Carolina Court of Appeals.  He also successfully defended his victories in the lower federal courts before both the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and the Supreme Court of the United States.  

While at Littler, Brian served as the Chair of the North Carolina Bar Association’s Labor & Employment Law Section, was elected and re-elected to Business North Carolina’s “Legal Elite” for Employment Law, was voted a “Super Lawyer” by his peers, and was named one of the Charlotte Business Journal’s “40 Leaders Under 40.”  

Brian also discovered teaching during his time on the employer-side.  This discovery led Brian to the next phase of his career, as a full-time law professor.  

‍Honed in Academia

‍Shortly after teaching at the law school level for the first time, Brian decided to pursue a full-time academic position.  After entering this job market (openly referred to as “the meat market,” it has a success rate of about 5%), Brian accepted a tenure-track appointment as an Assistant Professor of Law at the Charlotte School of Law.  There, he significantly deepened his expertise in employment law, as well as in both litigation strategy and tactics (as there is no better path to mastery of a subject than to teach it to others).  Brian taught “Civil Procedure” (the rules that govern the litigation of cases in state and federal courts), “Covenant Not to Compete Litigation,” “Employment Discrimination Law,” “Advanced Employment Law,” “Employment Agreement Drafting,” and other litigation and employment law courses.  He also co-developed and co-directed CSL’s Employment Law Certificate program.  Brian was an extremely popular and highly regarded teacher at CSL.  

Brian also became a respected scholar on employment law, litigation, and judicial decision-making.  His academic writing has been published in, among others, the Utah Law Review, the Rutgers Law Review, the South Carolina Law Review, the California Law Review Online, the University of Virginia Journal of Law & Politics, and the Journal of Legal Education.  Although a large portion of such writing is never cited by anyone (not even once), Brian’s work has been cited more than 100 times by academics in their own articles, judges in their orders and decisions, and practicing lawyers in the briefs they have submitted to trial and appellate courts (up to and including the Supreme Court of the United States).  

Brian also became a sought-after speaker both on employment law topics and on issues involving mental health and professionalism.  Through his speaking engagements, Brian became one of the foremost authorities on the employment law decisions of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which hears the “final” appeal in more than 95% of employment law cases from the Carolinas.  

‍Sharpened as a Judge

‍In 2018, Brian left academia to become an Administrative Judge with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency that enforces the various federal workplace anti-discrimination laws.  As an Administrative Judge, Brian served as the trial judge for discrimination/harassment cases brought by federal employees against their federal agency employers.  Brian decided more than 500 cases during his tenure as an Administrative Judge and, despite finding multiple federal agencies liable for discrimination and awarding significant damages, was only reversed on appeal twice.  

While serving as a judge, Brian gained valuable insight into judicial decision-making, both in his own cases and in the cases decided by his colleagues across the country.  Some of these insights confirmed his own past experiences: the value of preparation; the importance of narrative storytelling to frame the issues in a case; the critical role that clear, concise, well-organized writing plays in the outcome of cases; and the importance of thinking both critically and creatively about the law and the facts in every case.  Others insights were quite intuitive but outside his personal experience prior to becoming a judge, such as listening to his gut reaction to testimony and trusting his instincts when testimony felt too convenient or simply “off.”  

‍Tempered by Nature and Heart

‍Brian’s path to representing and advocating for employees in employment disputes has not simply been professional.  He has, over the last few years, experienced his own spiritual awakening rooted in the beauty and power of nature and the inherent interconnectedness of all beings.  As Brian began to better understand himself, his needs, and his desires, he recognized anew the power of the law to challenge the powerful, advocate for folk in need, and improve the lives of people in his community.  Like Josh, he awoke the brave, compassionate, heart-centered leader in himself as well as the slumbering warrior spirit that makes the law such a powerful force.  

When Josh was inspired to offer Brian the opportunity to join him in building a firm for heart-centered legal professionals, Brian knew intuitively that it was the right decision.  So, he left the safety of public service to focus on representing the working men and women of North Carolina in employment disputes against their employers.

‍The Path Comes Full Circle

‍Now back in the private practice of law, Brian’s career has come full circle.  He brings all the lessons he has learned over the last 25 years to bear for his clients and to fight for their rights in the workplace.  

Additionally, Brian continues to teach on a part-time basis as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of South Carolina Joseph E. Rice School of Law in Columbia, where he teaches an intensive litigation skills course on Covenant Not to Compete and Trade Secret Litigation, as well as Alternative Dispute Resolution.  Brian also remains active in his community, serving as the Chair of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission and advocating for the preservation of important places, sites, communities, and buildings across the county.  

Brian and his wife, Sarah, love to travel and experience new places and new cultures.  They love spending time in nature, whether at home, on the highways and byways of America, or while traveling abroad.  Their home is a local historic landmark that is surrounded (conveniently) by a nature preserve.  Between them, they have seven children.