Eric A. Parzianello

Practice Areas

• Outside General Counsel
• Employment Counsel
• Business Disputes & Ownership Conflicts
• Corporate Transactions & Contracts
• Restrictive Covenants & Trade Secrets

Eric A. Parzianello advises employers, executives, entrepreneurs, and privately held businesses on employment and business law matters including serving as outside general counsel to companies that need practical legal guidance integrated with business strategy. He works closely with clients to deliver practical legal strategies aligned with their business objectives, and he regularly serves as outside general counsel to companies that need responsive day-to-day legal guidance without a full in-house legal department. His practice includes employment counseling, business disputes, restrictive covenant and proprietary information matters, corporate transactions, and real estate-related issues.

Eric helps clients navigate sensitive and high-stakes matters involving employment agreements, severance and termination issues, non-compete disputes, confidentiality and proprietary information, and operational legal risk. He also advises businesses and management teams on how to identify and address issues early, before they develop into costly disputes. His litigation experience gives him a practical perspective when counseling clients on risk, strategy, and business decision-making.

A significant portion of Eric’s practice has involved complex commercial litigation at the trial and appellate levels in Michigan, Florida, and federal courts around the country. He has represented clients in business breakups, corporate and partnership dissolutions, securities and shareholder disputes, valuation-related matters, and a broad range of employment claims, including breach of employment agreements, wrongful discharge, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and Fair Labor Standards Act disputes.

Eric represents a diverse range of business clients, including developers in business and real estate transactions, doctors, national retailers, and entrepreneurs across a wide variety of industries. He is admitted to practice in both Michigan and Florida and works from the firm’s Detroit-area and Naples offices, giving clients access to counsel in both markets.

In addition to his business counseling and litigation practice, Eric has argued appellate cases in the Michigan Supreme Court, the Michigan Court of Appeals, and the United States Courts of Appeals for the Sixth and Seventh Circuits. He earned his Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accountancy from the University of Notre Dame and his law degree from the University of Detroit, where he served as Managing Editor of the Michigan Business Law Journal. He is also fluent in Italian.

Eric is fluent in the Italian language.

Languages

• Italian

Representative Cases

• Dimmitt & Owens Fin., Inc. v. Deloitte & Touche (ISC), L.L.C., 481 Mich. 618, 2008, Supreme Court of Michigan
• In re Jamal Garmo, Dayton Lodge, L.L.C., Muskegon Hospitality, L.L.C., and Muskegon Lodge, L.L.C., 2008 WL 466886, 2008, Michigan Court of Appeals
• Banner v. Raisin Valley, Inc., 33 Fed.Appx. 767, 2002, US Court of Appeals - Sixth Circuit
• Benjamin F. Pettit, M.D. v. HFP, LLC, Burns Clinic Medical Center, 2002 WL 31188479, 2002, Michigan Court of Appeals

Published Works

• Eric Parzianello on Noncompetes: Asked and Answered, Detroit Legal News, May 7, 2015
• Four Considerations When Drafting a Noncompete, Michigan Bar Journal, August 1, 2014
• 4 Dos and 4 Don'ts of Closing Argument, Michigan Bar Journal, June 1, 2014
• Reverse Migration, dBusiness Magazine, July 1, 2013
• Internet Privacy Protection Act: Asked and Answered, Detroit Legal News, January 3, 2013
• Protecting Your Business Information: A Primer on Confidentiality, Non-Competition and Non-Solicitation Agreements, Execsense / Amazon.com, November 28, 2012
• Diversity Jurisdiction and Limited Liability Companies, Michigan Business Law Journal, Spring, 2012
• The Regulation of Debt Collection Practices, Michigan Business Law Journal, Third Quarter, 1988

Bar Admissions

• Michigan, 1989
• Florida, 1999
• U.S. Supreme Court
• U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals 11th Circuit
• U.S. District Court Eastern District of Michigan
• U.S. District Court Western District of Michigan
• U.S. District Court Southern District of Florida
• U.S. District Court Middle District of Florida

Honors

• Michigan Super Lawyers
• Top Lawyers, DBusiness Magazine
• AV Preeminent Rating, Martindale-Hubbell