James R. O’Connor is a partner at Phillips Lytle whose practice areas include restrictive covenants, trade secrets and unfair competition, employment litigation, business litigation, breach of contract, business torts, and shareholder and partner disputes and dissolutions. He represents businesses in complex commercial litigation in state and federal courts and counsels employers on state and federal employment law, working with human resources professionals, general counsels and business owners to manage risk and comply with the law while minimizing business disruption. He co-leads the firm’s Internal Investigations Practice Team, where his areas of focus include trade secret theft, executive malfeasance, systemic harassment and retaliation, political corruption allegations, and fraud, waste and abuse. He practices from the firm’s Buffalo and New York City offices.