Gardner Employment Law

• Protecting each client's career and professional reputation.
• Attempting to resolve disputes without litigation when possible, to minimize delay, controversy and cost.
• Providing clear, practical legal advice and strategic guidance about career and workplace decisions.
• Litigating in court when necessary; the firm has extensive experience in hearings, trials and appeals.

Clients commonly seek help when they are:

• Considering a new job or promotion and need contract review or negotiation.
• Facing a challenge in a current job, including conflicts with management or corporate politics.
• Dealing with a termination, layoff or severance package.
• Confronting other career-related legal or strategic issues.

Lead attorney: Barbara Gardner

• Role: Lead attorney / Attorney in Charge at Gardner Employment Law.
• Board certification: Board Certified in Labor and Employment Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
• Reputation: Consistently recognized in listings such as *Best Lawyers in America* (Employment Law), *Texas Super Lawyers* and other state and national rankings over many years.
• Courtroom experience: Has handled hundreds of formal hearings, trials and appeals and has obtained successful outcomes for clients in employment and business disputes.

Education

• J.D., South Texas College of Law – graduated number one in her law school class.
• B.A., University of Colorado – Psychology.
• B.A., University of Houston – Music.

Professional involvement and community service (high level)

Barbara Gardner has been active in numerous professional organizations, including employment law sections of local and state bar associations and employment-law focused associations. She has held leadership and committee roles in several bar groups and professional women's organizations.

Her community service has included work with organizations such as:

• Spring Branch Family Development Center.
• Houston Food Bank.
• Rotary projects supporting medical supplies, eyeglasses distribution and public health initiatives.

How the firm works with clients

• The firm provides individualized analysis of each client's situation; employment matters are treated as highly fact-specific.
• Clients receive an explanation of their legal rights and options, followed by recommended strategies to advance their goals.
• The firm combines legal advice with practical, real-world guidance on navigating workplace dynamics and corporate politics.
• Many matters are resolved through negotiation and strategy rather than lawsuits, but the firm is prepared to litigate when that is in the client's best interest.

The firm's work often involves:

• Early, strategic advice before problems escalate.
• Document review and negotiation (such as employment contracts, non-competes, compensation and equity documents, and severance agreements).
• Dispute resolution and negotiation aimed at avoiding litigation where possible.
• Litigation and courtroom advocacy when necessary to protect a client's rights.

Core practice areas

Gardner Employment Law provides legal services in the following areas (among others):

• Corporate politics and workplace dynamics
• Advising on how to navigate supervisors, management and internal politics that may be blocking a client's career progress.
• Helping clients recognize allies and adversaries in the workplace and develop strategies to remove barriers to advancement.

• Employment contracts and offers
• Reviewing, explaining and negotiating employment agreements for new roles or promotions.
• Identifying problematic clauses and suggesting revisions to better protect the client's interests.

• Executive compensation and equity ownership
• Advising on equity ownership, stock options and related compensation structures.
• Explaining vesting, exercise rights, restrictions, repurchase rights and change-of-control provisions so clients understand what they are being offered.
• Identifying legal and practical risks in proposed compensation packages.

• Non-compete and non-solicitation agreements
• Counseling Texas employees and physicians on non-compete provisions, including restrictions on time, geography and scope of activities.
• Evaluating whether a non-compete may be unreasonable or unenforceable under Texas law.
• Helping clients respond if they are asked to sign a new non-compete or are facing enforcement of an existing one.
• Providing guidance to physicians on statutory requirements such as non-compete buyout provisions and related protections (for example, notice to patients and continuity of care requirements).

• Non-disclosure and trade secret protections
• Advising on non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and obligations to protect confidential information and trade secrets.
• Explaining how confidentiality and trade secret rules interact with future employment opportunities.

• Physician contracts and medical practice issues
• Reviewing and negotiating physician employment contracts and related documents.
• Addressing physician non-competes, compensation structures, call coverage expectations and practice-related obligations.
• Advising on issues that can affect a physician's practice and relationship with a hospital, group or employer.

• Severance and separation agreements
• Reviewing severance packages and release agreements.
• Explaining the legal effect of proposed releases, covenants and non-compete terms included in separation documents.
• Negotiating for improved severance terms when appropriate.

• Unpaid commissions and incentive compensation
• Advising employees and professionals who believe they are owed unpaid commissions or incentive compensation.
• Evaluating contract language and company policies relevant to payment rights.

• Whistleblower and retaliation issues
• Counseling clients who have raised, or are considering raising, concerns about unlawful or unethical conduct.
• Advising on potential protections and risks associated with whistleblowing and retaliation claims.

• Texas Medical Board and professional board matters
• Assisting physicians with Texas Medical Board issues as part of protecting their careers and licenses, when indicated by the specific matter.

When clients typically contact the firm

Clients often reach out when:

• They are about to sign an employment contract, non-compete, stock option agreement or severance package and want an experienced employment lawyer to review it first.
• They feel trapped by a non-compete or are worried about changing jobs because of restrictive covenants.
• They are facing a performance improvement plan or other signals that their job may be at risk.
• They are considering leaving a position to join a competitor or start a competing business and need to understand their legal risks and options.
• They want help planning a strategy to protect their career and future opportunities in light of workplace conflicts or changes.

The firm works to resolve these issues efficiently and economically while keeping the client's long-term career goals at the center of the strategy.

The website does not list specific walk-in office hours. Clients should contact the firm to schedule a time to speak with an attorney rather than arriving without an appointment.

Office locations

Houston office

• Address:

2100 West Loop S, Suite 1125 Houston, TX 77027

• Phone: (832) 834-3210

Austin office

• Address:

108 Wild Basin Rd S, Suite 250 Austin, TX 78746

• Phone: (832) 834-3210

The same main phone number serves both offices.

Lists Gardner, Charlotte, Austin, Houston, Spring, Lubbock, and University as a location. Names Texas and United States as a service area. Areas beyond these are not published.

Ask anyway — the agent will say plainly that it is not published rather than guess.