Eric E. Hobbs is a shareholder with and chair of the 50-lawyer Workplace Safety and Health Practice Group of Ogletree Deakins, one of the nation’s leading law firms representing employers in labor and employment matters. He also serves as a member of the firm’s Drug Testing and Manufacturing Industry Practice Groups. In his role as attorney and strategic advisor, Eric engages in a nationwide labor and employment law practice, which includes the representation of employers in traditional labor and employment matters, OSHA and MSHA enforcement and litigation, and employment counseling and litigation.
Eric is a Past Employer Co-Chair of the American Bar Association’s Occupational Safety and Health Law Committee. He is a co-author of and chapter editor for Bloomberg/BNA’s Occupational Safety and Health Law treatise, the “bible” for practitioners and judges in the area, and author of the chapter on occupational safety and health law in the Wisconsin State Bar’s Wisconsin Employment Law treatise. Eric also writes and speaks frequently to employer groups, attorneys and judges around the country. In the Fall of 2018, for a fourth time, he addressed the Commissioners and Judges of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission at its Judicial Conference at the invitation of the Commission’s Chair and Chief Judge. He also testified before Congress on “A More Effective and Collaborative OSHA: A View from Stakeholders” in February of 2018.
In 2014, in recognition of his long and distinguished career, Eric was elected as a fellow in the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. That same year, the Pulp and Paper Safety Association presented him with its Outstanding Service Award. Eric also is a Fellow of the Wisconsin Bar Foundation. And, in 2015, the Milwaukee County Commission for Persons with Disabilities established the “Eric Hobbs Award” in recognition of Eric’s 20 years of service as a commissioner, 10 as chairperson. Peers and business leaders also have recognized him as one of The Best Lawyers in America and as one of Chambers’ Leading Lawyers for Business in the areas of labor, employment and workers’ compensation law.
In his leisure time, Eric enjoys training and competing in Tae Kwon Do, in which he holds a second-degree black belt, and singing in his community and church.
