Phillip L. Douglass Of Counsel

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6400 South Fiddlers Green Circle, Suite 1820
Denver, Colorado 80111
pdouglass@s-elaw.com
Tel: 720.200.0614   Fax: 720.200.0679

Mr. Douglass is Of Counsel with Steese ♦ Evans ♦ Frankel, P.C.His practice areas include complex commercial litigation, labor and employment law and telecommunications law.


Practice

Prior to joining Steese ♦ Evans ♦ Frankel, P.C., Mr. Douglass served as corporate counsel in the litigation group of the Qwest Law Department (formerly the U S WEST Law Department) in Denver, Colorado. While at Qwest, Mr. Douglass litigated and arbitrated numerous complex commercial litigation matters and litigated matters brought under the Telecommunications Act of 1996. As part of his practice, Mr. Douglass also represented U S WEST in labor and employment arbitrations and litigation and before federal and state labor and employment agencies. Mr. Douglass also conducted numerous extensive internal investigations into employee misconduct and corporate business practices.

Prior to joining the U S WEST Law Department, Mr. Douglass practiced at Baker & Botts in Houston, Texas, specializing in labor and employment litigation and arbitration.

Mr. Douglass graduated magna cum laude in 1992 from Cornell Law School. Mr. Douglass is a member of the Order of the Coif and received the Chatman Prize for Labor and Employment Law. While at Cornell, Mr. Douglass served as an Associate and Editor of the Cornell Law Review. Mr. Douglass received his undergraduate degree cum laude from Brigham Young University with a major in English and a minor in Korean.

Commercial & Telecommunications Litigation

Mr. Douglass successfully obtained a Temporary Restraining Order against a client's former employee who set up a competing business and solicited the client's customers. After the TRO was obtained, Mr. Douglass negotiated a settlement involving favorable non-solicitation and non-competition terms.

Mr. Douglass helped to obtain a significant settlement in a massive real estate lease dispute involving tens of millions of dollars. In the process, the Firm was able to pierce a triple net lease through allegations of sham transactions and alter ego liability.

Mr. Douglass assisted a client in an arbitration related to the provisioning of telecommunications services, in which the parties' respectively brought claims against each other totaling over $600 million. The client acknowledged owing the claimant several hundred million dollars, but sought an offset for amounts the claimant disputed owing. The arbitration resulted in a net award to the client of over $50 million after offsets were applied.

Utilizing his experience in labor and employment litigation, Mr. Douglass successfully defeated efforts to certify a nationwide class of minority businesses in a contracting discrimination case. In the absence of a class, settlement was reached on favorable terms with individuals plaintiffs.

Labor & Employment Litigation

Mr. Douglass represented a client in a class action race discrimination lawsuit, relating to a reduction in force. At the close of the plaintiffs' case-in-chief, the court directed a verdict for the client on all claims.

Mr. Douglass represented a client in setting aside a labor arbitration award, in which an arbitrator ordered reinstatement of an employee discharged for failure to follow a drug treatment program. Mr. Douglass persuaded the court that the arbitrator exceeded his authority by basing the award on the employee's actual drug use instead of on whether the employee complied with the requirements of the drug treatment program.