ATLANTA – February 8, 2016 – Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C. (Ogletree Deakins), one of the largest labor and employment law firms representing management, is pleased to announce that Ted Speth, Gregg Lemley, and Bill Duda have been named to the BTI Client Service All-Stars 2016 list. Attorneys named to the BTI Client Service All-Stars list are recognized by leading general counsel and legal decision makers for outperforming all other attorneys.
Speth, a member of the firm’s board of directors and shareholder based in the firm’s Columbia office, is named to the list for a fourth time and is recognized as an MVP for being named three years in a row. Speth has more than 30 years of experience with employment-related litigation in state and federal courts throughout the United States. He devotes a significant amount of time to the representation of clients in class action litigation and provides training and preventive advice to employers in an effort to resolve potential employment-related legal matters before the matters escalate into legal actions. Speth has been named by Best Lawyers® as a “Lawyer of the Year” for numerous years, including his recognition as the 2016 Columbia-SC Litigation – Labor & Employment “Lawyer of the Year.” He has also earned a Band 1 ranking from Chambers USA and is included among the “South Carolina Midlands Legal Elite” and South Carolina Super Lawyers
Lemley is a founding shareholder in Ogletree Deakins’ St. Louis office and is named to the list for the second time. Lemley has practiced exclusively in the area of labor and employment law and related litigation for more than 20 years. He has represented employers in a wide range of litigation matters in both state and federal court, and before arbitrators, administrative law judges and other tribunals in disputes involving alleged discrimination based on race, sex, age, religion, disability, national origin and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), sexual and racial harassment, retaliation (including workers’ compensation and whistleblower retaliation), tortious interference with contract, Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) violations, Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA) claims, employment contract disputes, and other employment related claims and commercial disputes, including numerous non-compete and non-solicitation disputes. He also has extensive experience representing clients in class and collective action wage and hour claims brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and state wage laws. Lemley is listed in Chambers USA, The Best Lawyers in America, and among the Missouri Super Lawyers.
Duda is a shareholder in the firm’s Columbia office and has practiced labor and employment law for more than 15 years. He is a certified specialist in employment and labor law by the South Carolina Supreme Court and has repeatedly been named in The Best Lawyers in America. In his practice, Duda helps employers across the country understand and comply with a broad range of employment laws, including Title VII, the Americas with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), the FMLA, the FLSA, and local wage and hour law, workers’ compensation, trade secret law, and restrictive covenants. He regularly represents management in employment-related litigation, as well as in administrative matters before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and its state deferral agencies, the United States Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, and the South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Commission. Duda also handles fair housing complaints before the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and related litigation.
About Ogletree Deakins
Ogletree Deakins is one of the largest labor and employment law firms representing management in all types of employment-related legal matters. Premier client service, as outlined in the firm’s Client Pledge, is one of the firm’s top priorities and a cornerstone of its core values. U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” has named Ogletree Deakins a “Law Firm of the Year” for five consecutive years. In 2016, the publication named Ogletree Deakins its “Law Firm of the Year” in the Employment Law – Management category. Ogletree Deakins has more than 750 attorneys located in 49 offices across the United States and in Europe, Canada, and Mexico. The firm represents a diverse range of clients, from small businesses to Fortune 50 companies.