Michael Tamvakologos

Michael Tamvakologos
When clients were asked what they valued most in Michael, one client responded “He is very sharp, quick and commercial, and very good at building relationships with the commercial side of our business; you can put him in front of the CEO or anyone else and know he won’t let you down”, Chambers 2017.

What makes Michael more than a stand-out strategic litigator sought after by leading multi-nationals, is a near complete MBA at INSEAD University (rated by the Financial Times as the No 1 MBA in the world in 2017) which is reinforcing an understanding of the commercial side of your organisation.

Firm/Organization: Seyfarth

Blogs: Trading Secrets, Workplace Law & Strategy

Latest Articles

Trading Secrets

Will We Win? The Odds of Success in Restraint of Trade Cases

By Michael Tamvakologos

October 19, 2019

Cross-posted from Workplace Law & Strategy blog. When an ex-employee goes to a competitor or starts poaching clients or staff, employers often look to a restraint of trade clause to protect key business assets such as client relationships or company confidential information. Often a quick decision needs to be made: apply to the Court to stop the ex-employee, or wait and sue for breach of contract damages at some later time. Wrapped up in this…

Workplace Law & Strategy

Will we win? The odds of success in restraint of trade cases

By Michael Tamvakologos

October 16, 2019

When an ex-employee goes to a competitor or starts poaching clients or staff, employers often look to a restraint of trade clause to protect key business assets such as client relationships or company confidential information. Often a quick decision needs to be made: apply to the Court to stop the ex-employee, or wait and sue for breach of contract damages at some later time. Wrapped up in this decision is the important issue of prospects…

Workplace Law & Strategy

Cyber restraints of trade in the new era of digital markets

By Michael Tamvakologos & Elizabeth Tan

August 13, 2019

Restraints — Signing restraints of trade

An enforceable restraint of trade can be a key business asset, giving an employer time to recover when a senior employee has left the business for a competitor. Like a good insurance policy, it’s a big relief to have it when you need it. Australian law regarding restraints of trade has its history in 19th Century England and the prevailing concerns of that time. Of course the law has developed incrementally since then. However,…

Workplace Law & Strategy

No silver bullet for slowing wages growth in Australia, but there are solutions

By Michael Tamvakologos

May 15, 2019

The debate on what is to be done about slowing wages growth of Australian workers is, understandably, receiving an increased focus in the midst of an intense election campaign. The Labor Party has described this election as “A referendum on wages”. The Australian Council of Trade Unions, under its “Change the Rules” campaign, argues that the workplace relations system is biased in favour of employers’ who are choosing to keep wages low and taking this…

Workplace Law & Strategy

5 years on – in human resources, industrial relations and workplace health and safety law

By Rachel Bernasconi, Paul Cutrone, Ben Dudley, Luke Edwards, Chris Gardner, Jane Hall, Darren Perry, Henry Skene & Michael Tamvakologos

December 12, 2018

On 12 December 2013 Seyfarth Shaw announced our Australian offices were officially open for business. Today marks five years since those doors opened. What better way to reflect than to ask ourselves, what have been the biggest changes in our specialist areas of law over those five years? “It has become increasingly difficult to make enterprise agreements that are compliant, genuinely enterprise-focused and fit for purpose due to increasing modern award complexity combined with the…

Workplace Law & Strategy

The post-employment restraint as a business asset

By Michael Tamvakologos

October 4, 2018

An enforceable restraint of trade can be a key business asset. Some might think about it as an insurance policy. The capacity to preserve customer connections, protect confidential information and discourage key executives from setting up their own business or moving to a competitor can be critical to information rich businesses operating in a competitive market. This is the case now more than ever given that the Supreme Court of Victoria’s decision in Just Group …

Workplace Law & Strategy

Preparing Australian employers for increases in employment class action lawsuits

By Michael Tamvakologos & Mitchell Brennan

June 20, 2018

Employment class action lawsuits are a common cause of action in North America, and while we have traditionally seen fewer in Australia, there has been a recent uptick in occurrences. What does this mean for Australian employers? Without large numbers of cases and their precedents to study, how you plan for and prevent class actions may be an ‘unknown’ for many employers. Given the unique bet-the-company issues for employers arising from class actions –…

Workplace Law & Strategy

7 proven ingredients in successful enterprise bargaining

By Chris Gardner & Michael Tamvakologos

May 11, 2018

At a recent industry conference, a keynote speaker talked about great outcomes a number of our clients achieved in a critical enterprise bargaining round. One observation was the importance of “patience“ – with which we would wholeheartedly agree. So it got us thinking about ingredients for success. Here are some key ones, borrowed from our bespoke workshop process dedicated to this end. Clarity of need: articulated and connected to the business needs Gain v Pain:…

Workplace Law & Strategy

Why “future proofing” is a myth

By Michael Tamvakologos

April 4, 2018

For years, the emergence of truly global supply chains and the rise of large, increasingly skilled workforces has wrought havoc on labour supply in Western developed countries. It seems that these days nearly every industry, profession or occupation is facing an existential threat due to automation, artificial intelligence or other advances in technology (indeed, lawyers are said to be the next to go!). This is seen as the next frontier. In this environment, there is…

Workplace Law & Strategy

Changing an employee’s duties: Is that a redundancy?

By Michael Tamvakologos & Justine Giuliani

February 8, 2018

In a dynamic and fast paced business environment, structuring the workforce to meet changing operational requirements is front of mind for most employers. These requirements will often necessitate changes to an employee’s duties to ensure the business has the right skills in place in a competitive market – for example, to keep pace with technological change. Employers may also look to fill a resourcing gap by utilising existing employees in a different role, rather than…

Michael Tamvakologos

Will We Win? The Odds of Success in Restraint of Trade Cases

Will we win? The odds of success in restraint of trade cases

Cyber restraints of trade in the new era of digital markets

No silver bullet for slowing wages growth in Australia, but there are solutions

5 years on – in human resources, industrial relations and workplace health and safety law

The post-employment restraint as a business asset

Preparing Australian employers for increases in employment class action lawsuits

7 proven ingredients in successful enterprise bargaining

Why “future proofing” is a myth

Changing an employee’s duties: Is that a redundancy?

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