JD Journal » Department of Labor

Ogletree Deakins Continues to Grow Firm with Addition of Trio of Attorneys to Minneapolis Office; Shareholders to Phoenix Office

rebneely — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 08:00:43 +0000

In recent days, Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C announced the addition of a group of attorneys to the firm’s Minneapolis office.

The attorneys join from Larkin Hoffman Daly & Lindgren Ltd.. Bruce Douglas joins as a shareholder. Chris Heffelbower joins as of counsel and Ashlee Bekish as an associate. Their addition both strengthens the firm’s presence in the upper Midwest and the labor relations and litigation practice.

Douglas is certified as a Specialist in Labor and Employment Law by the Minnesota State Bar Association. His focuses his practice on matters related to traditional labor relations, class action litigation, and single plaintiff litigation.

Shareholder Cynthia Bremer was quoted as saying in a press release at the firm’s website: “Since opening last year, our office continues to see positive growth driven by client demand. This addition is a big plus for clients as they will benefit from the collective and comprehensive experience Bruce and the group will bring to employers in Minnesota and throughout the country.”

With over 25 years of traditional labor relations experience handling matters under the National Labor Relations Act, Douglas represents management before the National Labor Relations Board and has significant experience in representation cases and unfair labor practice cases. He is also experienced in drafting and negotiating collective bargaining agreements and conducting arbitrations under such agreements. He also advises employers in union organizing campaigns and related matters.

Throughout his career, Douglas has defended and counseled employers in a broad variety of industries, including business process outsourcing, lodging, insurance, finance, communications, temporary personnel, security, manufacturing, transportation and health care. His litigation experience includes representing employers around the country. He has significant experience with collective actions brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act and class actions brought under Title VII.

Douglas has also tried cases in matters relating to the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, unfair competition and trade secrets, and wrongful discharge. He also represents employers in matters under the Occupational Safety and Health Act and in other federal whistleblower cases investigated by Occupational Safety and Health Administration or the Department of Labor.

Aside from his litigation practice, Douglas provides advice to management regarding Sarbanes-Oxley Act compliance and investigations. He also conducts training for managers and supervisors regarding employee discipline, harassment, and equal employment opportunity matters.

Heffelbower is a litigator experienced in wage and hour matters and proceedings before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Bekish is experienced in matters regarding the Fair Labor Standards Act, Title VII, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and has assisted with traditional labor law cases.

The firm also recently announced the addition of Mark Kisicki and Thomas Stanek to its Phoenix office, where both joined as shareholders.

Ogletree Deakins is the nation’s third-largest labor and employment law firm, with over 600 lawyers in 40 offices from Miami to Los Angeles. The firm represents management in all types of employment-related legal matters.

Seyfarth Shaw Adds Sequeira as Of Counsel

joshua — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:43:13 +0000

Leon R. Sequeira has joined Seyfarth Shaw as of counsel in the labor and employment department. Sequeira most recently served as assistant secretary of labor for policy at the U.S. Department of Labor from 2007-09.

Seyfarth Shaw’s labor and employment department has nearly 350 employment attorneys nationally. Sequeira will join other two other recent additions to the Washington D.C.-based department- former Assistant Secretary of Labor Victoria Lipnic and Alexander Passantino, the former acting administrator of the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division.

“The addition of Leon builds on the tremendous talent we’ve brought to our L&E Department in Washington recently,” said Lisa Damon, chair of Seyfarth Shaw’s labor and employment department. “Their experience offers our clients invaluable insights into the enforcement of labor and employment laws, as well as the regulatory and legislative environment affecting employers.”

While with the Department of Labor, Sequeira advised the secretary on a wide range of policy issues affecting the American workforce and oversaw more than 80 regulations annually under development by the department’s agencies.

Seyfarth Shaw has over 750 attorneys located in ten offices throughout the United States and Belgium.

Thursday News Roundup

joshua — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:35:49 +0000

Good morning! Here’s a quick recap of yesterday’s top stories…

Katten picked up four litigatorsfrom Hunton & Williams…

Andrew Cuomo and Bank of America continued their public squabble…

Sonnenschein undergoes another round of layoffs….

Merger talks are over between Ice Miller and Greenbaum Doll…

And the Department of Labor is hiring 250 investigators…

Department of Labor Hiring 250 Investigators

joshua — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:23:51 +0000

Reacting to a report showing widespread violations of labor and wage laws in low paying urban jobs, the US Department of Labor is hiring 250 investigators as part of an effort to ramp up enforcement. According to Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, “There is no excuse for the disregard of federal labor standards — especially those designed to protect the neediest among us.”

According to job listings on the DoL website, applicants for the positions must have knowledge of and ability to apply the provisions of Federal wage and hour labor laws pertaining to wages, hours of work, or related conditions of employment. A JD satisfies the education requirement.

US Legal Sector Lost 4,200 Jobs in February

Erik Even — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:50:30 +0000

According to a report issued Friday by the US Department of Labor, the legal services sector shrank by 4,200 in February 2009.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics says the 0.36% drop from January reflects a continued series of layoffs by US firms.

Here’s a complete rundown of last week’s major law firm layoffs.

Since February 2008, 21,000 jobs have been lost in the legal sector.

As a whole, the US economy shed 651,000 jobs in February, and the national unemployment rate rose to 8.1%, up from 7.6% in January.

Legal Industry Lost 1,300 Jobs in January

Erik Even — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 21:32:24 +0000

The legal services industry continued to slash payrolls in January with a loss of 1,300 jobs, according to the US Department of Labor.

The job losses in the legal sector were .003% of the 598,000 jobs shed throughout the US last month, as the national unemployment rate rose to 7.6%.

Since the current recession began in December 2007, the economy has lost 3.6 million jobs, about half of them in the last three months. The legal sector shed 14,500 during that period.

Recruiters on both the East and West coasts report that associate hiring at law firms has largely stopped, and firms are now mostly targeting partners with portable books of business.

The last time so few people were employed in legal services was in 2004.

US Legal Market Lost 7000 Jobs in 2008

Erik Even — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:53:05 +0000

According to the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, the legal services industry in the United States shed some 7,000 jobs between December 2007 and December 2008.

The numbers include lawyers, paralegals, public relations specialists, secretaries and other positions; and reflect layoffs by firms nationwide over the last few months, and the dissolutions of Am Law 100 firms Heller Ehrman, Thelen, and Thacher Proffitt & Wood.

In all, 2.6 million US jobs were lost in 2008, the biggest fall in more than six decades.

But the number of legal services jobs actually increased in December by 1,300.

Politicos Join Morgan Lewis

Erik Even — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 00:22:42 +0000

Two Bush-era apparatchiks are joining Philadelphia’s Morgan Lewis & Bockius as partners in the firm’s Washington, DC office.

Thomas J. Lang was a senior trial counsel for the Federal Trade Commission, who led the government’s trial teams in recent merger cases. He will join the 136-year-old firm’s antitrust practice.

Jonathan L. Snare was deputy solicitor at the Department of Labor, amongst other high-level positions, and will work in the firm’s labor employment practice.

The firm is home to more than 45 partners who have served as high-level attorneys in numerous government agencies. Notable arrivals from the public sector in recent years include former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz, former Deputy Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Mark Matthews, former IRS Deputy Chief Counsel Gary Wilcox and two senior attorneys from the Department of the Treasury – former Deputy Tax Legislative Counsel Susan Brown and Dan Hogans, who was the government’s lead on Section 409A.

Via NLJ.