Fred W. Suggs, Jr., To Be President of South Carolina Bar

GREENVILLE, SC – May 8, 2009 – The South Carolina Bar (the Bar) and Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C. (Ogletree Deakins) are pleased to announce that Fred W. Suggs, Jr. will begin his term as president of the South Carolina Bar on Thursday, May 14, 2009.  He will be sworn in by Chief Justice Jean Toal during the Bar’s House of Delegates meeting at the Poinsett Club in Greenville.  Mr. Suggs, an Ogletree Deakins’ shareholder in its Greenville office, graduated from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1975 and has been a member of the Bar since 1976.  He has previously served in a variety of Bar leadership positions, including Chairman of the House of Delegates, Secretary, Treasurer, and President-Elect.  He has also served as Chair of the Employment and Labor Law Section and Chair of the Professional Responsibility Committee.

“As an attorney actively involved with the South Carolina Bar for 33 years, it will be a great honor to serve as its president,” said Suggs. “I believe in the programs and services that the South Carolina Bar offers to the legal community and the public at large.  I look forward to helping to further this mission.”

Lewis Smoak, the co-managing shareholder of Ogletree Deakins’ Greenville office said, “Suggs is a relentless advocate.  His dedication to the profession, to his clients, and to our firm has enabled him to become an important leader of the South Carolina Bar.  We salute the Bar for making this wise selection.”  John Creech, also a co-managing shareholder in the Greenville office, said, “The Greenville office excels in client services because Fred Suggs is in charge of it.  He will bring that same drive in his service to the South Carolina Bar.”  Mary Jeffrey, Executive Vice President, Corporate Human Resources Director of The South Financial Group, says, “I use Fred Suggs and the Ogletree Law Firm for several reasons.  The primary one is that he is the most responsive lawyer I know.  He returns our calls no matter where he is—on a business trip or in a duck blind.  We can count on him and the Bar can too.” 

Mr. Suggs is a certified specialist in labor and employment law and is a fellow in the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers.  He has extensive experience advising clients on preventive measures to avoid formal charges and lawsuits, handling union campaigns, negotiating collective bargaining agreements, representing clients before the National Labor Relations Board and the United States Courts of Appeal, and handling discrimination cases before administrative agencies and in state and federal trial and appellate courts. 

About Ogletree Deakins

Ogletree Deakins began its practice in Greenville, South Carolina, and Atlanta, Georgia, in 1977.  Since then, the firm has grown to more than 450 attorneys.  Ogletree Deakins has 72 lawyers who are members of the South Carolina Bar including more than 40 lawyers in Greenville who serve management exclusively.  The firm maintains a strong commitment to diversity.  It has 57 minority and 153 female attorneys, as well as 20 minority and 44 female shareholders.  With a total of 35 locations across the country, Ogletree Deakins is the third largest labor and employment law firm in the United States.  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 U.S.

For more information, please contact Karen Gonzales, Communications Manager, at 210-277-3606.

About the South Carolina Bar

The South Carolina Bar, which has a membership of more that 13,000 lawyers, is dedicated to advancing justice, professionalism, and understanding of the law.  For more information, please contact Leigh Thomas, Communications Director, at 803-799-6653, ext. 161 or visit http://www.scbar.org/.