ATLANTA (August 15, 2013) – Twelve attorneys from the Atlanta office of Fisher & Phillips LLP have been selected by their peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2014® (Copyright 2013 by Woodward/White, Inc., of Aiken, S.C.). All of the attorneys were honored for their labor and/or employment work unless otherwise noted below. A total of 81 Fisher & Phillips attorneys from across the nation were selected. In addition, one local attorney was named among Best Lawyers 2014 “Management Lawyers of the Year.”
Atlanta attorneys include Managing Partner and Chairman of the firm's Management Committee Roger K. Quillen, Robert W. Ashmore, D. Albert Brannen, Burton F. Dodd, Donald B. Harden, C. L. “Tex” McIver, Ann Margaret Pointer, Thomas P. Rebel, Douglas R. Sullenberger, John E. Thompson, Kim Kiel Thompson, for her immigration law work, and James M. Walters.
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John Thompson also was named a Management “Lawyer of the Year.”
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Biographical information
Roger K. Quillen is a partner in the Atlanta office and the managing partner and chairman of the firm's Management Committee. His practice involves litigation covering a wide range of employment discrimination issues, employee welfare benefit plans, the Railway Labor Act and issues arising before the NLRB and the EEOC. His special emphasis is in federal appellate litigation. Quillen has argued cases in most of the federal courts of appeals, with subject matter varying from review of NLRB decisions to class actions arising from changes in retiree health insurance plans. He also represents employers in collective bargaining and counsels them on strategies designed to prevent claims and lawsuits. He is "AV" Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell and has received repeated recognition in Georgia Super Lawyers and as a member of Georgia's "Legal Elite." He has also been listed in The Best Lawyers in America since 2006. Quillen has been named one of "The Nation's 100 Most Powerful Employment Attorneys" by Human Resources Executive Magazine every year since 2009.
Robert W. Ashmore is senior counsel in the Atlanta office. He has represented employers in virtually every area of labor and employment law during his 40-plus-year career. Ashmore has extensive experience in handling National Labor Relations Board unfair labor practice cases, employment discrimination cases, reductions in force, employment and termination agreements, strike injunctions, collective bargaining, and arbitration of disputes arising out of collective bargaining agreements.
D. Albert Brannen is a partner and team manager in the Atlanta office. Since 1982, he has represented employers in successfully solving labor and employment law problems. He has a depth of experience advising employers on representation cases and in assisting employers with the administration, negotiation, mediation and arbitration of collective bargaining agreements. Brannen also counsels employers about how to avoid workplace crises, comply with all applicable employment laws and prevent litigation.
Burton F. Dodd is a partner in the Atlanta office. For more than 25 years he has successfully defended colleges and universities, independent schools, multi-national manufacturers, hospitals, professional medical groups, textile manufacturers, telecommunications corporations, and other employers throughout the United States against claims for employment discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and wrongful discharge brought in federal and state courts and administrative agencies. Dodd also has defended employers against claims of disability discrimination, ERISA, FMLA, and FLSA violations, Equal Pay Act violations, and whistle-blower retaliation, as well as against state tort and contract claims.
Donald B. Harden is senior counsel in the Atlanta office. His practice emphasizes trials and appeals in class actions and complex litigation, including employee benefits and employment standards cases. Harden is a member of the Federalist Society and the Defense Research Institute.
Tex McIver is a senior partner in Atlanta. During his 40-year career, he has assisted clients nationally and internationally in their compliance efforts involving all federal and state employment laws. He advises employers concerning mergers and acquisitions, consolidation and streamlining organizations. McIver has also successfully defended employers in more than 200 union organizing campaigns, and he regularly handles contract negotiations, arbitrations, defense of corporate campaigns and the full range of strikes, lockouts and other interruptions of work. McIver also has served as a Special Assistant Attorney General for the State of Georgia. He was awarded the 2012 Highest Effort Award from Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity for his achievement in the field of law.
Ann Margaret Pointer is a partner in the Atlanta office. She has represented management in labor and employment matters for more than 30 years. As counsel to many U.S. companies and U.S. subsidiaries of global companies in a variety of businesses, her areas of practice include defending employers against class, collective and individual discrimination, retaliation and harassment complaints and lawsuits. Pointer also has served as an adjunct professor at the Emory University Law School for more than 10 years.
Thomas P. Rebel is the managing partner in the Atlanta office and a member of the firm's Management Committee. He practices extensively in the areas of wage and hour, affirmative action, education and disability law. He has also handled many NLRA matters, including representation and unfair labor practice cases, and matters arising under the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Rebel has been included in Georgia Super Lawyers every year since 2004 and listed in Chambers USA: America's Leading Business Lawyers since 2009.
Douglas R. Sullenberger is a partner in the Atlanta office. His practice focuses on traditional labor law, including representing and advising employers on union related matters. He is "AV" Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell and he has been listed in Chambers USA: America's Leading Business Lawyers since 2009. Sullenberger has also been listed by the Labor Relations Institute (LRI) as one of the "Top 100 Labor Attorneys" in the U.S.
John E. Thompson is a partner in the Atlanta office. His practice focuses on wage and hour law, emphasizing issues relating to minimum wage, overtime, timekeeping, and wage-payment requirements. He assists employers in preventive efforts designed to ensure compliance, and he handles both investigations conducted by government agencies and litigation in the wage and hour area. Thompson has served as a Special Assistant Attorney General for wage-hour matters for the State of Georgia. He also edits the firm's blog on wage-hour matters.
Kim Kiel Thompson is a partner in the Atlanta office, chairman of the firm's Global Immigration Practice Group and co-chair of the International Employment Practice Group. Her practice includes extensive U.S. and international visa work, including temporary work visas, permanent residence and naturalization cases, as well as expertise in the area of I-9 compliance, including preparing for government audits, and defending discrimination claims under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. Thompson is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
James M. Walters is a senior partner in the Atlanta office. His practice has a strong emphasis on the representation of employers under the two principal federal labor laws, the National Labor Relations Act and the Railway Labor Act. In addition to representing employers in various industries in both collective bargaining and arbitration matters, Walters devotes a substantial amount of his time to defending companies charged with unfair labor practices or similar claims in cases before the NLRB, the NMB and numerous federal courts. He has been listed by the Labor Relations Institute (LRI) as one of the "Top 100 Labor Attorneys" in the U.S. since 2006.
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About Fisher & Phillips LLP (www.laborlawyers.com)
Fisher & Phillips LLP represents employers nationally in labor, employment, civil rights, employee benefits and immigration matters. The firm has 285 attorneys in 31 offices. Founded in 1943, it is one of the largest U.S. law firms to concentrate its practice exclusively upon representation of employers in labor and employment matters. In addition to the Atlanta office, the firm has offices in Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Columbia, Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Fort Lauderdale, Gulfport, Houston, Irvine, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Louisville, Memphis, New England, New Jersey, New Orleans, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Tampa, and Washington, D.C.