Mr. Etish is an experienced litigator who represents a wide range of clients from various industries, including real estate, food manufacturing, transportation, construction, and pharmaceutical. His diverse litigation practice is focused primarily on complex commercial disputes, but he is also regularly involved in products liability and professional liability litigations. His complex commercial practice frequently involves business torts, restrictive covenants, antitrust, and shareholder agreements. Mr. Etish often serves as a resource to national counsel unfamiliar with litigating in the state and federal courts located within Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and he works tirelessly with clients to understand their business objectives. In many situations, this means seeking to resolve disputes cost effectively through negotiation without litigation. If negotiations are not realistic or are unsuccessful, Mr. Etish will not hesitate to take a more aggressive approach.
Areas of Focus
Commercial Litigation
Mr. Etish represents a diverse client base in a vast array of commercial disputes. He is regularly called on to enforce or defend his clients’ rights in matters involving business torts, including claims for:
- Breach of fiduciary duty
- Tortious interference with contractual relations
- Fraud, misrepresentation, or nondisclosure
- Violation of confidentiality or non-compete
- Misappropriation of trade secrets or proprietary information
Mr. Etish has also recently represented clients in disputes involving:
- Violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act and Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO)
- Violations of the Employee Retirement Income & Security Act (ERISA)
- Breaches of promissory notes and commercial guarantees
- Breach of express and implied warranties regarding commercial losses to a produce distributor
- Duty to defend and indemnify with respect to a title insurance policy
- Breach of contract and performance bond in numerous construction litigations
Emergent Relief
Mr. Etish has extensive experience seeking and defending against temporary restraining orders and preliminary and permanent injunctions in state and federal courts on behalf of a diverse set of clients, including real estate developers and landowners, supermarkets, consumer packaged food companies, and pharmaceutical companies. Mr. Etish was successful in defending a suit brought against his client, a major international food manufacturer, in which a party sought to enjoin the construction of his client’s $400 million food processing plant based on allegations of misappropriation of trade secrets. Mr. Etish understands the challenges involved in litigating matters on an emergent basis, and he works to pursue or defend his clients’ rights on an emergent basis when delay is not an option.
Restrictive Covenant Litigation
Mr. Etish is regularly called on to help clients in both enforcing and challenging restrictive covenants, including non-solicit, non-compete, and non-disclosure covenants, as well as claims for tortious interference with contract and misappropriation of trade secrets in the employment context.
E-Discovery
Mr. Etish is Co-Chair of the Gibbons E-Discovery Task Force, regularly advising clients and publishing and lecturing on document retention and e-discovery best practices. He is also an editor of the Gibbons Law Alert blog, with a particular focus on content related to developments in electronic discovery. He regularly calls on his extensive background in the area of e-discovery to counsel clients in the litigation context to ensure compliance with this still-evolving field. In particular, he handles such e-discovery issues as ensuring compliance with litigation hold obligations, participating in Rule 16 conferences, negotiating search terms and ESI protocol agreements, and overseeing and managing voluminous document reviews.
Real Estate Litigation
Mr. Etish represents developers, business owners, and commercial landlords in all facets of real estate litigation, including lease disputes, evictions, and summary dispossess matters. He has experience litigating real estate matters in the state courts of both Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Credentials
Education
Rutgers School of Law - Camden (J.D.)
- Research Editor, Rutgers Law Journal
Wesleyan University (B.A.)
Professional Admissions
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
State of New Jersey
United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
Professional Activities
New Jersey State Bar Association
Business and Commercial Litigation Committee
Equity Jurisprudence Committee
Philadelphia Bar Association
Camden County Bar Association
Barrister, University of Pennsylvania Law School American Inn of Court, 2015-2018
Supreme Court of New Jersey
Advisory Committee on Electronic Filing Implementation, 2010
Supreme Court of New Jersey
Ad Hoc Committee on Continuing Legal Education, 2007
Gibbons Law Alert blog (www.gibbonslawalert.com)
Editor
Judicial Clerkship(s)
Law clerk to Justice John E. Wallace, Jr., Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey
Intern to the Honorable Robert B. Kugler, United States District Judge for the District of New Jersey
Civic/Charitable Activities
SquashSmarts
Board of Directors, Co-Chair of Governance and Nominating Committee
The Germantown Cricket Club
Board of Governors, 2012-2014
Chair of Membership Committee, 2013-2014
Admissions Committee, 2010-2012
LEADERSHIP Philadelphia
Core Class Member, 2014