Biography
Abraham Y. (Avi) Skoff is Co-Chair of the Moses & Singer Litigation practice, Chair of the Business Torts/Unfair Competition practice, and Co-Chair of the Employment and Labor practice.
Mr. Skoff has over twenty-five years experience in practicing law, including involvement in a number of major, newsworthy cases. He served as Assistant U.S. Attorney and Deputy Chief of the Civil Division, U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of New York. Mr. Skoff has litigated cases in courts throughout the country, and focuses his practice in the areas of complex civil and commercial litigation, corporate and business torts, injunctive proceedings, litigation of unfair competition, entertainment, trade secret, employment, restrictive covenant, healthcare, commercial, product liability/toxic tort and insurance matters, health care transactions and Government investigations. Mr. Skoff is an experienced trial lawyer. He has represented parties before the Judicial Panel on Multi-District Litigation and has coordinated the defense of nationwide class action claims. Mr. Skoff is admitted to practice in New York and New Jersey, and practices actively in both states.
Mr. Skoff is rated “AV” by Martindale-Hubbell. In 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009, he was named a “New York Super Lawyer” by the publishers of Law & Politics magazine. In a recent case, he was co-counsel to a corporate defendant accused of trade secret misappropriation in connection with the hiring of a new employee. The client denied plaintiffs’ claims, asserted an abuse of process counterclaim, and, after extensive litigation, obtained a multi-million dollar verdict on its counterclaim.
Mr. Skoff”s litigation experience includes:
* Litigation of corporate, commercial, unfair competition, entertainment, employment, intellectual property, trade secret, non-compete, Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”), healthcare, insurance, advertising, securities, toxic tort, product liability, regulatory and other matters.
* Litigation of restrictive covenant, duty of loyalty and fiduciary duty matters, in actions throughout the United States. Counseling and litigation on behalf of competitors in several industries, including software, medical and dental distribution, computerized equipment, advertising, financial services and others. Development of protective non-competition and trade secret programs. Multi-jurisdictional representation and co-ordination in large scale cases.
* Representation of performing artists in claims by and against agents and other business partners.
* Representation of advertising and media companies, in claims involving entertainment, media, business and employment matters.
* Representation of business entities and authors, in the litigation of defamation, intellectual property, false advertising, invasion of privacy, Lanham Act and other claims.
* Insurance and Reinsurance, litigation and arbitration. Coverage litigation.
* Defense and multi-state coordination of toxic/mass tort actions.
* Litigation over the financial consequences of: breaches of fiduciary duties; criminal activity; the conduct of disloyal employees. Civil actions pertaining to diverted corporate opportunities, breaches of noncompetition and nondisclosure agreements, forged stock certificates, forged checks and endorsements, money laundering, federal forfeitures and other matters.
In the healthcare area, Mr. Skoff engages in both transactional matters and litigation. He has represented business entities, healthcare organizations and individual providers, in the structuring and documentation of managed care, disease management and other agreements, in practice and partnership arrangements, in the litigation and arbitration of healthcare, insurance and reinsurance related matters, and in disciplinary proceedings, licensure and credentialing disputes.
EDUCATION
* New York University School of Law, J.D., 1975
* Columbia College, A.B., 1972
ARTICLES
* "Keeping Your Assets From Walking Out the Door: Key Checklists," Moses & Singer Employment Update, February 2010.
* "Inevitable Disclosure Doctrine: Hardly Inevitable in New York," New York Law Journal, October 2009.
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
* American Bar Association, Section of Litigation, Committees on Intellectual Property Litigation, Commercial and Business Litigation and Business Tort Litigation. Past Chair, Second Circuit Subcommittee, and Business Defamation Subcommittee.
* American Bar Association, Section on Torts and Insurance Practice, Committee on Business Torts; Former Vice Chair
* American Bar Association, Section of Patent Trademark and Copyright Law, Committee on Trade Secrets and Interference with Contract; Past Chair, Subcommittee on Civil RICO
* Defense Research Institute
* Federal Bar Council
* Early Neutral Evaluator, ADR Panel, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York (1994-1996)
BAR/COURT ADMISSIONS
* U.S. Courts of Appeals, Second Circuit, 1983; Third Circuit, 2002; Ninth Circuit, 2004
* U.S. District Courts, Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, 1976; Northern District of New York, 1986; District of New Jersey, 1988; District of Connecticut, 1992; District of Colorado, 2004
* New Jersey 1988
* New York, 1976
PRESENTATIONS
* Lecturer, “Injunctive Relief In Business Tort Litigation,” New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education, 2009
* Moderator/Lecturer, “Not Just for Hackers Anymore? Use of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) to Respond to Theft of Information,” Intellectual Property Litigation Roundtable, American Bar Association, Section of Litigation, 2009
* Lecturer, “Protecting Your Business Through Injunctions,” ReedLogic Video Seminar, 2008
* Lecturer, “Injunctive Relief in Business Tort Litigation National CLE Conference,” Civil Litigation Program
* Lecturer, “Fraud and Abuse in Home HealthCare Telemedicine”
* Lecturer, “Federal Forfeiture Litigation,” Attorney General's Advocacy Institute, United States Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.