R. Mark Dare, IslerDare, PC / Tysons Corner (Expand/Collapse Bio)
Mark Dare, a native of Illinois, has resided in Northern Virginia since 1974. Prior to joining IslerDare PC in 2006, he was a partner in the Falls Church, Virginia, office of the international law firm of Reed Smith, LLP, and its predecessors in Virginia, Hazel & Thomas, and Hazel, Beckhorn & Hanes, where he practiced for more than 30 years.
A past president of the Fairfax Bar Association (1994-95) and the Fairfax Law Foundation (2004-05), Mr. Dare is a frequent lecturer and author of written materials on employment law subjects. He is an editor of Employment Law in Virginia, the acknowledged “bible” of sources for the law of the workplace in Virginia, and he is the author of the book’s chapter on Unfair Competition, which deals with covenants not to compete, disloyalty, and theft of trade secrets.
Edward Lee Isler, IslerDare, PC / Tysons Corner (Expand/Collapse Bio)
Edward Lee Isler is a founding partner of the law firm of IslerDare, P.C. in Tysons Corner — Vienna, Virginia. The firm’s practice is dedicated solely to the representation of management in labor and employment matters. A native of McLean, Virginia, Mr. Isler graduated in 1983 from the University of Virginia with a B.A. in Government and Economics. In 1987, he graduated from the College of William & Mary, Marshall-Wythe School of Law, where he served as a member of the Board of Editors of the William & Mary Law Review and was inducted into the Order of the Coif. Upon graduation, he served for a year as a judicial clerk to the Honorable James C. Turk, Chief Judge for the U.S. District Court, Western District of Virginia. Before establishing Isler Dare Ray Radcliffe & Connolly (previously Ray & Isler) in 1997, he spent seven years practicing labor and employment law in Washington, D.C., with the national firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, and two years with a regional labor and employment firm.
From 2010-2012, Mr. Isler served a two year term as the Chair of the Virginia Bar Association, Labor and Employment Law Section. He is a longstanding member of the Planning Committee for the Virginia CLE Annual Employment Law Update. He is also an author of Virginia Employment Practices and Forms, a co-author and co-editor of Virginia Business Torts, both published by the Virginia Law Foundation, and a co-author of the Virginia Wage and Hour Handbook, published by the Virginia Chamber of Commerce Legal Reference Series.
Burt Whitt, Kaufman & Canoles /Norfolk (Expand/Collapse Bio)
Burt Whitt is the chairman of his firm’s Labor and Employment Practice Group. He has extensive experience exclusively representing management in all matters involving the employer-employee relationship. He routinely represents and counsels employers in wrongful discharge claims, accusations of discrimination or harassment, covenants not to compete, and government audits of employment practices.
Mr. Whitt and his team offer employers one-on-one counseling as well as management training, including the widely recognized and well-attended Employment Law Update. Although he regularly represents employers in court, Mr. Whitt has found that these proactive measures help employers save time, money, and energy by avoiding litigation.