Ogletree Deakins Shareholder Bruce J. Douglas Selected as Board Certified Civil Trial Law Specialist by Minnesota State Bar Association

MINNEAPOLIS – March 14, 2013 – 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 Bruce J. Douglas, a shareholder in the firm’s Minneapolis office, has been selected as a Board Certified Civil Trial Law Specialist by the Minnesota State Bar Association (MSBA). Douglas is also certified as a MSBA Board Certified Labor and Employment Law Specialist, making him one of only three Minnesota-based attorneys certified in both Labor and Employment Law and Civil Trial.

To earn certified specialist designation, leading attorneys complete a rigorous approval process, administered by the MSBA and approved by the State Board of Legal Certification. Certified attorneys have demonstrated superior knowledge, skill and integrity in their specific field and can use the designation of specialist to promote their credentials. The specialist certification is an achievement that is earned by fewer than three percent of all licensed Minnesota attorneys.

Douglas has more than 25 years of experience advising and defending employers in administrative and litigation matters in the full range of both traditional labor and employment law matters. He has represented clients in a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, baking, printing, resorts and lodging, finance, security, health care, insurance, communications, temporary personnel staffing, trucking, airlines, railroads, and business process outsourcing. Douglas has extensive experience in wage and hour matters, class and collective actions, employee benefits and non-compete litigation, and mergers and acquisitions. He frequently advises and represents employers in reductions-in-force and layoffs and provides guidance for compliance with the federal Worker Adjustment Retraining and Notification Act and state counterparts. Douglas has conducted many internal corporate investigations and frequently conducts training for managers and frontline supervisors.

Douglas is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell and has been named a Super Lawyer by Super Lawyers Magazine (2008, 2010-2012). He is a member of the Defense Research Institute, Society of Human Resource Management, and Minnesota Management Attorneys Association. Douglas earned his J.D. from William Mitchell College of Law and his LL.M., in Labor Law, from New York University School of Law.

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. The firm has more than 650 lawyers located in 43 offices across the United States and in Europe. Ogletree Deakins was named “Law Firm of the Year” in both the Litigation – Labor & Employment and the Employment Law – Management categories in the 2013 edition of U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” list. In addition to handling labor and employment law matters, the firm has thriving practices focused on business immigration, employee benefits, and workplace safety and health law. Ogletree Deakins represents a diverse range of clients, including more than half of the Fortune 50 corporations in the United States. For more information, please contact Ryan King or Mary Lou Baxter.

About the Minnesota State Bar Association
With over 16,000 members, the Minnesota State Bar Association (MSBA) is the state’s largest and most influential voluntary organization of attorneys, providing continuing legal education and public service opportunities for lawyers, and assistance to the legal system. The MSBA has been accredited as an independent professional organization for certifying attorneys as Criminal Law Specialists, Real Property Law Specialists, Civil Trial Law Specialists and Labor and Employment Law Specialists since 1989.