Profile

Sarah Hutchins practices in the area of commercial litigation, with a particular focus on competition and consumer protection law, business torts - including trade secret litigation, fraud and tortious interference claims - and white collar crime investigation and defense. She works with clients in disputes involving unfair and trade deceptive practices, covenants not to compete, confidentiality agreements, antitrust claims, as well as other general commercial disputes. Ms. Hutchins also works with clients to ensure compliance with federal and state consumer privacy and protection laws.

She is admitted to practice before the United States District Courts for the Western, Middle and Eastern Districts of North Carolina and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Ms. Hutchins serves as a member of Parker Poe’s Recruiting Committee and Community Service Committee. While at the William & Mary School of Law, she was a member of the Journal of Women and the Law and the William & Mary Moot Court Team.

Experience Highlights

Ms. Hutchins’ recent experience includes:

• Representing a client in connection with a merger and acquisition questioned by the Federal Trade Commission including participating in one of the only post-merger trials prosecuted by the Federal Trade Commission in recent years
• Representing plaintiffs in an unfair competition and trade secret case involving claims that the defendants had attempted to create an electronic database of construction projects to compete unfairly with our clients through misappropriation of their intellectual property, resulting in the entry of preliminary and permanent injunctive relief
• Representing and counseling companies in cases regarding the enforceability of covenants not to compete
• Representing national companies in franchise termination disputes involving claims of trademark infringement and trade secret misappropriation
• Assisting multiple clients in complex commercial lease disputes involving summary ejectment actions, UCC issues and other commercial real estate matters
• Representing companies facing federal and state government investigations, including a national conglomerate in an SEC investigation that resulted in no enforcement action being taken, and a hospital during a wide-scale insurance investigation where no substantive sanctions were levied against the healthcare facility
• Counseled a national company on consumer protection privacy policies to ensure compliance with federal and state privacy regulations

News

• Brian Cromwell and Sarah Hutchins Present to Local CFA Chapter
  November 30, 2012
• Sarah Hutchins Appointed PCAB Board Secretary
  June 29, 2012
• Wal-Mart Reports Highlight Dangers of Payments to Foreign Officials
  Anti-Corruption Alert
  May 23, 2012
• Federal Trade Commission Actions Highlight Need for Protection of Consumer Data
  Privacy & Information Security Alert
  September 13, 2011

Events & Speaking Engagements

• What to Do When the Government Comes Calling
  November 2012
  Commercial Finance Association (CFA) — Carolinas Chapter
• Information Technology and the Law
  August 2012
  Dress for Success Charlotte — Professional Women’s Group
• Managing your “Friends”: Facebook (and other social media) In Your Business; A Legal Perspective
  April 2012
  National Association of Women Business Owners — Charlotte Chapter

Publications

“Fighting Theft Of Company Data Through The CFAA,” Law360, New York, July 16, 2010

“Petruska v. Gannon University: A Crack in the Stained Glass Ceiling,” 14 William & Mary Journal of Women and the Law 197 (2007)

Memberships

• Criminal Justice Act (CJA) Training Panel for the Western District of North Carolina
  2012-present
• Mecklenburg County Bar Leadership Institute
  2012
• Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina
  Board of Directors (Secretary, 2012-2013; Member, 2011-2014); External Relations Committee
• Mecklenburg County Bar
  Nonprofits and Client Pro Bono Committee, Board of Directors; Young Lawyers Division, Volunteer, Ask-a-Lawyer Day; Bar Candidate Interview Committee; Bar Centennial Committee
• Chief Justice William H. Bobbitt American Inn of Court
  Barrister
• Young Affiliates of the Mint Museum
  Member
• Junior League of Charlotte
  Member