ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
John M. Bredehoft, Kaufman & Canoles / Norfolk
John Bredehoft is a member of the firm of Kaufman and Canoles in Norfolk. His practice includes all aspects of employment, discrimination, and non-competition law, and he is a member of his firm’s Credit Union and Physician Representation initiatives. He is a member, long-time Council member, and former chair of The Virginia Bar Association Section on Labor Relations and Employment Law. Mr. Bredehoft is the immediate past chair of the Board of Governors of the Virginia State Bar Section on the Education of Lawyers; former head of the Virginia State Bar program on professionalism for law students, and is a member of the VSB Standing Committee on Professionalism. He is admitted to practice in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. He is an honors graduate of Harvard College and of the Harvard Law School.
R. Mark Dare, IslerDare, PC / Tysons
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.
C. Simon Davidson, McGuireWoods LLP / Charlottesville
Simon Davidson represents individuals and organizations under investigation by federal and state agencies such as the DOJ, the SEC, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Office of the Inspector General. He also conducts internal investigations and practices general commercial litigation, including securities class actions, False Claims Act cases, and contract disputes.
In addition, Mr. Davidson advises clients regarding legal and government ethics, including issues arising from interactions with the government. He was the author of “A Question of Ethics,” a longtime column in Roll Call, and is a regular speaker on these topics.
Education
- University of Virginia School of Law, JD, 1999
- University of Virginia, BA, with Honors, 1996
Publications
- Author, "A Question of Ethics: A Biweekly Column," Roll Call, 2007–2015
- Author, "Minimizing Gift-Risk Under the Open Government Act," Executive Counsel, December 2010/January 2011
Affiliations
- Chair,Criminal Law Section, Virginia Bar Association, 2015–2016
Edward Lee Isler, IslerDare PC / Vienna
Edward Lee Isler is a founding partner of the law firm of Isler Dare, 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, DC, 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, 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.
Mr. Isler has been named repeatedly by Virginia Business magazine as one of Virginia’s Legal Elite for employment law, and has been recognized by Chambers USA, The Best Lawyers in America, and Washingtonian magazine as one of the leading employment lawyers in Virginia. He also was recently recognized by SuperLawyers magazine as one of the top 50 lawyers in Virginia and as one of the Top 10 lawyers in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area.