Ogletree Deakins Attorneys Named BTI Client Service All-Stars

ATLANTA – February 6, 2012 – Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C. (Ogletree Deakins), one of the nation’s largest labor and employment law firms, is pleased to announce that Don Prophete and James Pennington, of the firm’s Kansas City and Birmingham offices, respectively, have been selected as 2012 Client Service All-Stars by the BTI Consulting Group. The BTI Client Service All-Stars are an elite group of attorneys nominated solely and exclusively by corporate counsel in BTI’s independent study as delivering the absolute best in client service. This year, BTI interviewed more than 240 corporate counsel from large and Fortune 1000 companies to probe all aspects of client relationships. Responses from those interviews found that a commitment to help, keeping clients informed, dealing with unexpected changes, an innovative approach, anticipating client’s needs, advising on business issues, and providing value for the dollar were among the attributes that make for exceptional client service.

Don Prophete serves on Ogletree Deakins’ Board of Directors and is the firm’s Vice President. He joined Ogletree Deakins in 2005 as the Founding Shareholder of the firm’s Kansas City office. Earlier in his career, Prophete served as in-house counsel. Prophete attributes the experiences from both worlds as allowing him to develop a client service philosophy that is focused much more on providing practical and effective solutions to business issues than delivering a legal answer to a particular matter. Clients and colleagues alike have praised Prophete for this approach as he has been recognized by Best Lawyers, Chambers USA, and Legal 500. In his practice, Prophete is a litigator and trial lawyer. He has served as lead trial counsel in all types of employment disputes in federal and state courts and has significant experience in the retail, telecommunications, restaurant, utilities, and manufacturing industries. Prophete also devotes a substantial part of his practice to representing employers in traditional labor law matters, including union organizing campaigns, collective bargaining, and grievance arbitrations. He has a considerable amount of experience representing public employers and non-profit entities in the defense of first amendment and other constitutional and civil rights cases in state and federal courts. In January 2008, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, in conjunction with the White House, appointed Prophete to serve as Chairman of the Advisory Committee to the Commission, for a two-year term.

James Pennington is a founding member and currently serves as the Managing Shareholder of Ogletree Deakins’ Birmingham office. He is the only attorney in the State of Alabama named as a Client Service All-Star by BTI. Pennington is heavily involved and holds a leadership role in the firm’s Legal Lean Sigma initiative which helps enhance the quality, consistency, and efficiency in delivering legal services to clients throughout the firm. In part for his outstanding client service, Pennington has been named in Best Lawyers in three categories: Employment Law – Management, Labor Law – Management, and Education Law. With more than 20 years of experience, Pennington is both a litigator and counselor working to help employers solve their most complex workplace issues. During his career he has handled matters including discrimination, labor strikes, collective bargaining agreements, employment contracts, class actions, wage and hour disputes, trade secrets, non-competition agreements, and employee benefits. Pennington works with employers to develop preventive labor relations programs and assists clients in developing personnel policies and procedures. Pennington frequently speaks to and trains human resources professionals and other managers in businesses of all sizes on issues relating to employment providing them with proactive solutions to mitigate potential risk factors in today’s workplace.

 

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 600 lawyers located in 40 offices from Miami to Los Angeles. 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, public relations manager, at (404) 870-1742.

About The BTI Consulting Group

BTI is the leading provider of strategic research to law firms and General Counsel. For the past 20 years, BTI has delivered compelling, custom client surveys to firms with six to 600 partners. BTI also provides syndicated market research about client service, market direction and client satisfaction to more than 200 top law firms. BTI’s work spans 13 different professions, helping clients learn best practices from world-class firms in virtually all professional services industries.

 

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