Jeanne Bynum Hipes

Hipes Law LLC

2475 Northwinds Parkway
Suite 200
Alpharetta, Georgia 30009

678-867-7006

Business, Commercial, Contract, Discrimination, Employment, ERISA, Partnership Disputes, Sexual Harassment, Trade Secrets, Workplace

About the Firm

Hipes Law LLC is an Alpharetta, Georgia-based employment law and business litigation law firm devoted to the interests of corporate executives, professionals, business owners and their companies in metro Atlanta and beyond.  

The firm's attorneys are seasoned practitioners from the nation's top law schools with the skills and experience to understand their clients' business and individual perspectives, and to aggressively represent their interests.

We negotiate, mediate, arbitrate, settle and bring to trial cases involving a wide variety of employment-related and business claims, including:

-       Wrongful termination

-       Sex, race, age, religion, national origin, pregnancy and disability discrimination

-       Sexual harassment

-       Hostile work environment

-       Retaliation

-       Family Medical Leave Act issues

-       Breach of contract

-       Business torts

-       Non-compete and employment contract issues

We also negotiate and draft employment agreements, executive compensation agreements, severance agreements, non-competes and other restrictive covenants.  We are experienced trial lawyers who fight relentlessly for our clients' rights inside and outside of the courtroom.  

However, we understand that many clients are looking for alternatives to the costly and protracted litigation process.  Our lawyers are also adept at helping clients resolve their disputes more quickly and efficiently through negotiated settlements, arbitration and mediation.

Having seen the excellent results obtainable through the mediation process, and having obtained certification from Harvard Law School’s Negotiation and Leadership Program, as well as certification from Henning Mediation and Arbitration’s programs in mediation and arbitration, attorney Jeanne Bynum Hipes became a mediator, in addition to being an advocate, and is a registered neutral with Georgia’s Office of Dispute Resolution.  Jeanne is thus available to conduct both court-ordered and private mediations, as well as arbitration.

It is clear that mediation is one of, if not the, best, least expensive, and fastest ways to resolve a dispute.  Just a few of the advantages of mediation include:

-       The fact that a relationship may be preserved by mediation

-       Less risk

-       The time to resolution is much quicker

-       The cost is usually much  less

Statistics indicate that 70% of court-ordered mediations are successful, while private mediations enjoy a success rate well over 90%.  Moreover, while many mediations involve having lawyers for each side, a lawyer for one or both sides is not required to participate in a mediation—if they choose to do so, the parties can participate in the process without lawyers.

Background 

After working at NASA Headquarters and a Washington D.C. law firm to put herself through both college and law school, Jeanne graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1984 and commenced law practice in Atlanta.  She began her career in the practice of insurance defense litigation, and progressed into complex, commercial litigation, where she has successfully obtained for her clients multiple, multi-million dollar judgments and other significant victories.  In 2001, she was recruited by then-client Lockheed Martin Corporation, the world’s largest defense contractor, to serve as its Assistant General Counsel in New York.  As Counsel for Lockheed Martin Corporation, she negotiated national and international business contracts and strategic teaming agreements, while concurrently monitoring and participating in national and international litigation.  Her corporate experiences ranged from negotiating, drafting and reviewing multiple primary and sub-contracts related to the development, production, and sale of cutting edge technology (including antiterrorism technology), to attempting to thwart predatory business practices and strategizing with top counsel throughout the United States and abroad over appropriate litigation approaches.

Jeanne’s responsibilities involved major risk analysis work and development of litigation avoidance and success strategies in matters where billions of dollars were potentially at stake.  In monitoring and participating in litigation throughout the country and abroad, she was responsible for overseeing and guiding both large and small, highly-regarded law firm counsel, as well as costs of litigation, and defining the course of litigation cases involving multiple employment and business issues.  Through her work at Lockheed, she experienced the role of being a client, and was able to see firsthand the positive and negative impact a law firm can have on a client--both the company itself and the executives that run it. 
                                                                              
Returning to Atlanta in 2003, Jeanne established her own law firm and also became Of Counsel to a well-known national employment law firm, which relied on her rare blend of litigation skills and business experience to produce exceptional service to the firm’s business and individual executive clients.  Jeanne now brings her unique blend of skills and experiences to her executive and professional client base as the managing trial lawyer of Hipes Law LLC.

Jeanne’s combined litigation and business world experiences distinctively enable her to understand her clients’ business and individual perspectives and thus purposefully and aggressively represent their dispute resolution interests.  Her litigation resume includes trial, appellate, administrative, mediation and arbitration work with trade secrets, employment agreements and discrimination, restrictive covenants (including, e.g.,  noncompete, nonsolicitation, and nondisclosure agreements), business and technology contracts, business torts, employer and fiduciary duties, securities issues, RICO, insurance, UCC, and other contract and tort issues. Jeanne is a gladiator for her individual executive and business clients, fighting to obtain for her individual executive clients fair severance agreements and employment contracts, and for all clients, tight, legally-enforceable contracts and justice in the litigation and dispute resolution arena.

Education

University of Maryland: B.A., magna cum laude, 1980
University of Virginia School of Law: J.D., 1984
Harvard Law School: Certificate, Negotiation & Leadership, 2014
Henning Mediation and Arbitration, Certificate, Trained Mediator 2015

Henning Mediation and Arbitration, Certificate, Trained Arbitrator 2015

Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution, Registered Neutral 2015

Admissions

Admitted to the State Bar of Georgia, 1984
Admitted to all Georgia Courts, 1984
Admitted to Georgia Federal Trial and Appellate Courts (N.D.Ga.and 11th Cir.), 1984
Admitted Pro Hac Vice to various courts nationwide
Accepted by Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution as Registered Neutral 2015

Memberships

State Bar of Georgia
American Bar Association

-       Law Practice Management

-       Dispute Resolution

Atlanta Bar Association

-       Labor and Employment

-       Alternative Dispute Resolution

-       Litigation

Sisters-in-Law
Virginia Alumni Association
National Employment Lawyers Association
Cambridge Who’s Who Among Executive and Professional Women
John’s Creek Chamber of Commerce
Rotary Club of John’s Creek-North Fulton, Former Foundation Chair
National Association of Professional and Executive Women
City of Milton Ethics Panel 2011 - to present
Forsyth County Ethics Panel 2013-to present
North Fulton PowerCore, Former Participation Coordinator, Mentor Coordinator
Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra, Board of Directors
American Business Women’s Association

Jeanne Bynum Hipes has been a legal gladiator for her clients since commencing law practice in 1984.  An aggressive litigator and negotiator, Jeanne has been advocating for her corporate executive client base in one capacity or another during virtually all of her 20+ years of law practice.  Jeanne brings a wealth of complex, commercial litigation experience to her clients’ legal issues, top-notch corporate experience, employment law advocacy, and a lengthy record of dispute resolution success.  She has incomparable experience in representing both plaintiffs and defendants, both individuals and corporations of all sizes, from Mom and Pop to Fortune 100 multi-billion dollar corporations.

Jeanne has developed and used her skills in multiple forums:

-       Mediation

-       Arbitration

-       Administrative hearings

-       Bench trials

-       Jury trials

-       Appellate courts

-       Settlement negotiations - both in Georgia and in other states, as well as abroad. 

She has lived in and understands the corporate world.  Her breadth of experience has equipped her to “know the enemy” and conquer it.  Yet Jeanne’s clients often comment that she has a rare sensitivity to and compassion for their circumstances, which makes her a good listener and easy to talk to and understand.

In dealing with business clients, Jeanne recognizes that the individuals who run the business make the business, and she is skilled at listening to business executives as they explain their needs, be they individual or business needs.  Jeanne is dedicated to giving her clients excellent legal service, whether they are:

-       Executives seeking employment with or severance from a corporation

-       Executives representing corporations seeking to hire or terminate individuals

-       Business persons needing to resolve a contract dispute

-       Businesses or Individuals needing a gladiator to fight against business fraud, theft or other torts

-       Executives needing necessary business and employment contracts 

Both individual and Fortune 100 clients have found Jeanne to be responsive to their needs and a strong advocate for their interests.

2475 Northwinds Parkway, Suite 200
Alpharetta, GA 30009

P: 678-867-7006
F: 770-783-5010
E: [email protected]