Robert W. Small

Robert W. “Bob” Small, Partner in the Labor & Employment and Corporate & Business Services Groups in the Firm’s Philadelphia office, has counseled individuals and businesses for more than 30 years with regard to business matters, including employment law, transactional matters, and business succession planning and has litigated those matters in state and federal court throughout the United States. He brings decades of experience in assisting businesses in protecting their trade secrets, proprietary information and customer relationships through the use of protective covenants in employment agreements. In addition to large law firm experience, Bob has served as Assistant General Counsel to two Fortune 500 companies and as such, is sensitive to the needs of corporate law departments to control outside legal costs.

Bob strives to understand each client’s needs, to provide advice and guidance in timely fashion, and to employ a flexible fee structure that enables clients to use legal services to avoid or minimize problems early on, rather than incurring higher legal fees to undo or litigate over an avoidable problem.

Recently, Mr. Small secured a favorable verdict for our client in the amount of $450,000, of which $300,000 was awarded for punitive damages. Our client purchased an RV from a trailer sales entity. Part of the price for it was the trade in of an older trailer on which money was still owed by our client to a bank. The trailer company agreed to pay off that amount in exchange for a reduction in the trade in value of the used trailer. The trailer company, unknown to our client, did not pay off the full amount of our client's loan to the bank. The bank's credit department treated the amount that was paid as a prepayment of the monthly amounts due. More than a year and a half later, those payments ran out and the bank treated the remaining amount due as a default and filed a "default" report with the credit reporting agencies. As a result, the client's personal and business credit were destroyed, resulting in him incurring interest charges of more than $150,000. The case against the trailer company and its two owners was tried. Mr. Small was able to convince the court that the error was intentional, and thus obtained not only the $150,000+ as breach of contract damages, but punitive damages for fraud of $300,000. 

Bob writes about employment law matters and lectures to lawyers and human resources professionals on developments in employment law. 

Believing that lawyers have a special obligation to give back to their community, Bob has provided pro bono legal services to at risk children. Additionally, he has served on the governing bodies of and solicits charitable contributions for several non-profit organizations and religious institutions. Most recently, Bob was appointed to the Northern Children’s Services' Board of Trustees.