Ogletree Deakins Opens Office in Seattle, Expands Presence in Pacific Northwest

SEATTLE – September 1, 2015 – Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C. (Ogletree Deakins), one of the largest labor and employment law firms representing management, announced today that the firm has opened an office in Seattle, significantly expanding its capabilities in the Pacific Northwest. The office opens with shareholder Tony Byergo, who co-founded Ogletree Deakins’ Kansas City office in 2005, and attorney Sarah Evans, who has practiced at Ogletree Deakins since 2012. The Seattle office is expected to experience significant growth in the near future and will collaborate with Ogletree Deakins’ Portland, Oregon office, where many of the lawyers are licensed to practice law in Washington.

“We are very excited to open in Seattle, which comes in direct response to client demand,” said Kim Ebert, managing shareholder of Ogletree Deakins. “We represent a number of clients with substantial operations in Washington and the greater Pacific Northwest and combining this new office with our very successful Portland team will allow us to better serve those employers. It is clear that Seattle was a logical next step in our strategic growth.”

Byergo is chair of Ogletree Deakins’ collective bargaining practice subgroup and has 25 years of experience representing and advising management in labor and employment matters. He is a recognized authority in traditional labor relations matters and union avoidance, including collective bargaining, representation campaigns, strike preparation, corporate campaigns, labor arbitration, and unfair labor practice proceedings. Byergo also represents management in a range of matters involving race, sex, age, and disability discrimination, harassment, and retaliation claims under Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). He has extensive experience representing employers in a variety of executive termination, non-compete, and unfair competition claims. Byergo earned his J.D., cum laude, from Northwestern University Law School.

Evans focuses her practice on employment litigation and preventative counseling. She regularly defends employers in matters involving charges of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, investigations involving health and safety violations, and arbitrations of unfair labor practices. Evans also has experience litigating cases involving trade secret misappropriation and breach of non-competition agreements. In her preventative counseling practice, Evans has handled a wide range of matters including executive compensation agreements, complex leave and accommodation issues, sensitive terminations, Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act reductions in force, wage and hour issues, and privacy and compliance related to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and state law equivalents. Evans earned her J.D. from the University of California – Los Angeles 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 750 attorneys located in 48 offices across the United States, in Europe, and in Mexico. Ogletree Deakins has been named a Law Firm of the Year four consecutive years by U.S. News – Best Lawyers^® “Best Law Firms.” In 2015, the publication named Ogletree Deakins its “Law Firm of the Year” in the Labor Law – Management category. 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, from small businesses to Fortune 50 companies.