James M. Rusert

Partner

Emailjames.rusert@us.dlapiper.com

Call+1 404 736 7817

Atlanta

About

Jimmy Rusert is a U.S. employment deal and project lawyer. Jimmy's practice is focused on advising private-equity funds and companies on employment matters in connection with mergers, acquisitions, sales, and other corporate transactions. Jimmy has counseled on hundreds of transactions, with deal values ranging from less than $10 million to more than $1 billion, with a significant focus on transactions from $100 million to $1 billion in value. Jimmy handles all employment-related aspects of those transactions, including purchase agreements, restrictive covenants, employment documentation, due diligence, and workforce integration.

Jimmy also handles day-to-day advice and counseling matters for companies with U.S. operations, including employment agreements, restrictive covenants agreements, separation agreements, employee complaints and investigations, and other employee materials and issues.

Jimmy is actively involved in pro bono work in the Atlanta area. He regularly counsels local nonprofits on employment matters and represents individuals in landlord/tenant matters. He has also obtained temporary protective orders for low-income domestic violence and stalking victims, represented a nonprofit daycare facility serving low-income families in litigation arising out of damage from flooding, and represented an indigent federal criminal defendant in a securities fraud conspiracy investigation and prosecution. Jimmy also served as a member of the Leadership Council of the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization providing legal representation to low income individuals in the Atlanta community.

Jimmy is the Atlanta office representative on the firm’s Americas pro bono committee.

Areas of FocusFinancial Services Healthcare Employment Corporate Private Equity

Bar admissionsGeorgia

CourtsAll Georgia state courtsCourt of Appeals of GeorgiaSupreme Court of GeorgiaUnited States District Court for the Northern District of GeorgiaUnited States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia

Education

J.D., University of Georgia School of Law 2010
Managing Editor, Georgia Law Review
Recipient of the Wyckliffe A. Knox, Jr. and Law School Association Scholarship
In law school, James served as an intern to the Honorable Judge Warren Davis of the Gwinnett County Superior Court.

cum laude

B.A., Broadcast News, University of Georgia 2006
summa cum laude

Insight Overview

Jimmy co-authored an article advising employers navigating how to keep their workplaces safe from COVID-19 while complying with their obligations under various employment laws.
Jimmy wrote a post for AKD Partners's Labor & Employment Blog, The Labor Dish, to help guide employers navigating the murky issues surrounding employee investigations that go "off-script" and compliance with the federal Stored Communications Act.
Jimmy wrote an article for the Fulton County Daily Report detailing the present state of attorney's fees litigation under Georgia's bad faith statute titled "A Right Turn at Sanders: Georgia Courts Make Unexpected Departure."
Jimmy was quoted in a Fulton County Daily Report article recognizing AKD Partners Atlanta's White Collar Litigation group as the 2014 White Collar Litigation Department of the Year.
Jimmy was a contributing researcher and author on a team reviewing Cameroon’s wildlife protection laws for "Empty Threat: Does the Law Combat Illegal Wildlife Trade? A Ten-Country Review of Legislative and Judicial Approaches," produced for The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry and United for Wildlife.
Jimmy is a graduate of the TIPS/ABOTA National Trial Academy, put on by the American Bar Association's Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section. Jimmy recounted the training and experience he received at the National Trial Academy in "Five Days," an article written for AKD Partners’s Careers blog.