Ogletree Deakins Taps New Leadership in Columbia

COLUMBIA, S.C. – October 18, 2021 – Ogletree Deakins, one of the largest labor and employment law firms representing management, today announces the promotion of Bill Duda to office managing shareholder in its Columbia, South Carolina office. Bill succeeds Kathy Dudley Helms in this role as office managing shareholder.

Bill started his career as an associate with Haynsworth Baldwin Johnson & Greaves and has been an attorney with Ogletree Deakins since their merger in 2004. He has more than two decades of experience advising and defending employers in numerous industries across the country, including retail, manufacturing, financial services and trucking.  He helps clients understand and comply with a myriad of employment laws, including Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), local wage and hour laws, workers’ compensation, trade secret law, and restrictive covenants. In addition to his counseling practice, Bill regularly represents employers in state and federal court litigation, arbitrations and administrative proceedings before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the United States Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, and the South Carolina Worker’s Compensation Commission.

Bill is well decorated in the labor and employment law field as a certified specialist in Employment and Labor Law by the South Carolina Supreme Court since 2008. He has been named to the Best Lawyers^® in America list since 2013, recognized as a BTI Client Service All-Star, named a BTI Client Service MVP and received the Lexology Client Choice Award in the Employment & Benefits category for South Carolina. Bill earned his J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law and his B.S. from the University of South Carolina.

Kathy returns full time to her labor and employment law practice representing companies and individuals in both the private and public sector, with a strong emphasis handling employment matters in the healthcare industry involving medical residents, physicians, health care, and hospital employees. She remains a leader on Ogletree Deakins’ COVID-19 Taskforce, where she has been instrumental in managing the firm’s COVID-19 response since the onset of the pandemic.

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. Premier client service, as outlined in the firm’s Client Pledge, is one of the firm’s top priorities and a cornerstone of its core values. U.S. News – Best Lawyers^® “Best Law Firms” has named Ogletree Deakins a “Law Firm of the Year” for 10 consecutive years. In 2021, the publication named Ogletree Deakins its “Law Firm of the Year” in the Litigation – Labor & Employment category. Ogletree Deakins has more than 900 attorneys located in 53 offices across the United States and in Europe, Canada, and Mexico. The firm represents a diverse range of clients, including many of the Fortune 50 companies in the U.S. www.ogletree.com