Ogletree Deakins Expands Its Washington, D.C. Area Labor Practice with the Arrival of Shareholder Ryan Sears

WASHINGTON, D.C. – April 7, 2025 – Ogletree Deakins, one of the largest labor and employment law firms representing management, is pleased to welcome Ryan Sears to the firm’s Washington, D.C. office as a shareholder. Ryan joins Ogletree Deakins from Morgan Lewis, where he was a member of the firm’s U.S. Labor/Management Relations practice group.

Ryan brings more than a decade of experience in traditional labor matters and will be a key member of Ogletree Deakins’ Traditional Labor Practice Group. He began his career as a Field Attorney in Region 5 of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Baltimore, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. Since moving to private practice, Ryan has defended management clients in hundreds of unfair labor practice charges and handled dozens of representation cases before the NLRB. He has successfully negotiated numerous collective bargaining agreements and advised and represented businesses in connection with labor injunctions, strikes, organizing campaigns, and arbitrations.

Ryan’s arrival signifies continued growth for the firm’s labor practice in the Greater Washington, D.C. area. Former in-house labor counsel John Ferrer joined the Washington, D.C. office last summer, and the firm recently opened a Baltimore office with a distinguished team of labor lawyers from the Shawe Rosenthal firm. Ryan, John, and several Baltimore shareholders formerly served as NLRB attorneys in Region 5, which is responsible for enforcing federal labor law in Maryland, the District of Columbia, parts of Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania.

Ryan’s diverse client base spans the transportation, healthcare, hospitality, retail, and manufacturing industries and includes both those with mature bargaining relationships and those with nascent union relationships.

“Ryan’s experience at the NLRB and his years of representing and advising sophisticated national employers in high-stakes matters make him a perfect fit for our firm and our clients,” said Jim Murphy, office managing shareholder in Washington, D.C. “We are delighted to welcome Ryan to our team, and we look forward to the significant contributions he will make to our traditional labor practice.”

Ryan has been named in the Labor and Employment Law category of the Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch^® since 2023. He is a member of the Virginia Bar Association’s Labor Relations and Employment Law Section and the American Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Section. Ryan earned his B.A., cum laude, from the University of Pittsburgh and his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, where he was named an exceptional pro bono pledge honoree.

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. Best Law Firms^® has named Ogletree Deakins a “Law Firm of the Year” for 14 consecutive years. In the 2025 edition, the publication named Ogletree Deakins its “Law Firm of the Year” in the Litigation – Labor and Employment Law category. Ogletree Deakins has more than 1,100 attorneys located in 60 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