Liz builds her business litigation practice around a simple idea: solve her clients' problems creatively and cost-effectively. Litigation is her expertise, but she recognizes that costly, time-consuming litigation is rarely the best business decision—and she counsels her clients accordingly.
Liz maintains a sophisticated commercial litigation practice concentrated in complex commercial and employment disputes, with particular emphasis on non-compete, trade secret, and other competition-related matters. Over more than 25 years in practice, she has handled cases in Georgia's state and federal courts and before the American Arbitration Association (AAA). Beyond her trial and arbitration work, she has briefed and argued appeals at every level of the state and federal courts across Georgia.
In her restrictive covenant and unfair competition practice, Liz represents both plaintiffs and defendants in disputes over non-compete, customer non-solicitation, employee non-recruitment, and non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements. She also handles claims involving trade secrets, tortious interference with business and contractual relations, breach of fiduciary duty and the duty of loyalty, and unfair and deceptive trade practices, as well as claims under the Computer Systems Protection Act, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and the Stored Communications Act. Liz also represents plaintiffs and defendants in a wide range of other business and commercial disputes as well, including contract disputes, business torts, partnership disputes, corporate governance disputes, and shareholder derivative lawsuits.
Liz's practice extends well beyond the courtroom. Through preventative counseling, she routinely drafts the agreements that protect employers' most valuable business interests—employment agreements, restrictive covenant agreements, severance agreements, and other documents governing employment practice and procedure. On the other side of the table, Liz also counsels employees at every stage of the employment relationship, from hiring through separation and retirement.
Liz's peers have recognized her standing in the field, naming her a Georgia Super Lawyer in Business Litigation every year since 2013. She lectures regularly on restrictive covenants, physician employment agreements, and other employment topics, including federal statutes such as the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act.
Liz graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in Political Science from Coker University in Hartsville, South Carolina, where she earned All-American honors both on the softball field and in the classroom. She was named Coker's Athlete of the Year in two consecutive years and, in 1995, NCAA Woman of the Year for the State of South Carolina. She went on to earn her J.D. cum laude from Baylor University School of Law, graduating First Honor Graduate in her class and serving as a Managing Editor of the Baylor Law Review. Liz began her legal career clerking for the Honorable William C. O'Kelley of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. A Gwinnett County native, she returned to her roots when she joined Andersen, Tate & Carr in 2001.
Liz lives in the Grayson community of Gwinnett County with her husband and youngest son. Outside the office, she enjoys watching her youngest son compete in sports and visiting and traveling with her college aged and adult children. Liz has a deep passion for children and families: she serves on the board of Uniting Hope for Children, and she and her husband are active members of First Baptist Church of Loganville, where they have served in the pre-school ministry for more than 25 years.