Patricia M. Prezioso is Chair of the Sills Cummis & Gross Employment and Labor Practice Group. She is an active litigator and counselor and takes great pride partnering with her clients to address employee issues. Ms. Prezioso’s practice focuses on assisting businesses with reducing risk, addressing employee claims and disputes against their employers in federal and state courts, as well as administrative agencies, assessing and protecting trade secrets and confidential information, and defending or prosecuting claims relating to employee misappropriation and restrictive covenant violations.
Ms. Prezioso understands that businesses need not only excellent legal services, but attention to both billing efficiency and minimizing business disruption. With litigation matters, this means strategizing to position the company for the best achievable result while considering both cost and business impact. For those matters where a trial is necessary, she uses her broad and notable trial experience to make sure her client’s voice is clearly heard in the courtroom.
Ms. Prezioso’s practice focuses on management-side employment litigation and counseling, including litigating disputes concerning trade secrets, restrictive covenants, discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation (including whistleblower/New Jersey Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA)), employee classification, and wage and hour issues. She counsels on reducing risk, trade secret protection strategy, protocols and policies, and provides human resource support for employment actions. Additionally, Ms. Prezioso conducts in-house investigations relating to employee complaints or other business concerns, and supports her clients through government/administrative agency investigations.
Ms. Prezioso also assists businesses and entities with in-house investigations, responding to government subpoenas and defending of criminal allegations. She has extensive experience in matters involving government or administrative agency investigations, including before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the New York State Division of Human Rights and the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights, and defending businesses and entities from liability claims relating to alleged intentional acts of its employees or agents.
Ms. Prezioso’s experience in the public sector has provided her with unique investigative insight, which she applies to assist her clients. Before entering private practice, she worked for the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office – Division of Criminal Justice, serving as Chief of Law Enforcement Services, Deputy Director and Executive Assistant Attorney General. She was the lead prosecutor in State v. McGuire, one of New Jersey’s most infamous murder trials. Ms. Prezioso also served as an Assistant District Attorney at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, where she was both a designated homicide assistant and a member of the Sex Crimes Unit. She was honored by the State of New Jersey and the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety with “Professional Achievement” awards and received the “Innovation in Government” award from the National Council of State Governments.
Ms. Prezioso frequently speaks on trade secret issues, restrictive covenants, trial advocacy, trial preparation, discovery and investigations, and has been featured in news specials on ABC, NBC, CBS and the Discovery Channel.