Theresa Donahue Egler Joins Ogletree Deakins as Shareholder

Formerly Vice President and Deputy General Counsel for BASF Corporation

MORRISTOWN, NJ – January 3, 2011 – Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C. (Ogletree Deakins), one of the nation’s largest labor and employment law firms, announced today that Theresa Donahue Egler joined the firm as a shareholder in the firm’s Morristown office.  Previously, Egler was Vice President and Deputy General Counsel for BASF Corporation where she was responsible for legal services to the corporate services departments including Human Resources, Employee Benefits, Corporate Communications, Internal Audit, Corporate Medical and Corporate Security.  Egler also was responsible for employment and ERISA litigation and managed the company’s Legal Compliance & Ethics Program.

While at BASF, Egler was active in leadership and community outreach.  She was a founding member of the company’s Women In Leadership Group which was comprised of senior executive women focused on mentoring, networking and facilitating the advancement of women at BASF.  She was a member of the BASF Diversity Team and served as liaison to the National Association of Minority & Women Owned Law Firms.  Egler also helped to develop BASF’s CLE Program and organized the company’s participation in the Pro Bono Partnership organization.

“Terry and Ogletree Deakins have worked together for years and we are very pleased she will be joining our firm,” said Mark Diana managing shareholder of Ogletree Deakins’ Morristown office.  “Terry has a reputation as a tough and smart litigator, and also has a successful track record of mentoring and developing women in leadership roles, an asset to any business.”

Egler has more than 20 years of labor and employment law experience.  Earlier in her career, she was an associate and then partner for Day Pitney LLC.  There, her practice focused on the representation of management in ERISA and employment litigation including discrimination, sexual and other workplace harassment, retaliation, wrongful discharge, whistleblower, breach of contract, FMLA, wage and hour, privacy, employee handbook claims, violation of public policy, defamation, and employment-related torts.  She also conducted preventative and corrective counseling on all aspects of employment law and conducted workplace investigations and training on numerous employment issues.  Egler has also designed and advised employers on workforce reductions, reorganizations and plant closings and developed policies and employee handbooks.  She has served as the lead attorney responsible for class and collective actions, as well as multi and single plaintiff cases and conducted bench and jury trials.  She has argued appeals in federal and state courts and appeared before the EEOC, the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights, and the Department of Labor.

Egler earned her J.D., cum laude, from Fordham University School of Law in 1983 where she was in the top 10 percent of her class.  She received a B.A. from Colgate University during which time she studied abroad at Queens College, Oxford University, England and Stirling University, Scotland.
 
About Ogletree Deakins

Ogletree Deakins is the nation’s third-largest labor and employment law firm, representing management in all types of employment-related legal matters.  The firm has more than 500 lawyers located in 40 offices across the United States.  In addition to handling labor and employment law matters, the firm has thriving practices focused on business immigration, construction, employee benefits, environmental, 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, public relations manager, at (404) 870-1742.