HAGRS LLP Lawyers Included in 2019 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America©
Two attorneys at Hall, Arbery, Gilligan, Roberts & Shanlever LLP have been included in “The Best Lawyers in America© for 2019.” Attorneys Matt Gilligan, Chris Arbery were selected by their peers for their “high caliber of work” in the practice area of Employment Law – Management. Inclusion in Best Lawyers is based on a “rigorous peer-review survey.” Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers “the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice.”
Read MoreHGRS LLP’s Florida Office Expands with Addition of New Partner Mark Bonfanti
HGRS LLP is pleased to announce that Mark L. Bonfanti has joined the firm as a partner in its Santa Rosa Beach, Florida office. Mark joins us from the law firm of Allen, Norton & Blue, P.A., where he was a Senior Attorney, representing employers in a wide spectrum of employment litigation matters and traditional labor matters. Prior to that, Mark served as in-house Labor and Employment Counsel for the nation’s second-largest grocery wholesaler and tenth-largest privately held corporation.
Mark is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire (cum laude). He received his law degree at Florida State University College of Law. Florida Trend Magazine has recognized Mark as one of Florida’s “Legal Elite” attorneys.
At HAGRS LLP, Mark’s practice will focus on employment law (advising both private and public employers on compliance with employment laws and defending employers in workplace-related litigation) and on traditional labor matters, including collective bargaining, grievances, and arbitration.
Mark currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Children’s Home Society of Florida, and as a Trustee for the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation.
See Mark’s full bio at: https://hgrslaw.com/team/mark-l-bonfanti/
Read MoreAssociate Elizabeth Newton Recognized as Georgia “Rising Star.”
HGRS LLP associate attorney Elizabeth M. Newton has been recognized as a 2018 “Georgia Rising Star,” as published by Atlanta Magazine and the Atlanta Business Chronicle. According to the selection committee, Rising Stars are those “outstanding” lawyers age 40 and under who have “attained a high degree peer recognition and professional achievement.” The Rising Star designation is limited to less than 2.5% of attorneys practicing in the State of Georgia.
Read MoreHAGRS LLP Partners Recognized as Georgia Super Lawyers for 2018
Several partners at Hall, Arbery, Gilligan, Roberts and Shanlever LLP (Wit Hall, Chris Arbery, Matt Gilligan, and Dave Roberts) have been recognized as 2018 “Georgia Super Lawyers,” as published in Atlanta Magazine and the Atlanta Business Chronicle. According to the selection committee, Super Lawyers are those who have “achieved excellence in their practice” and are selected based on “a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.” The designation is limited to less than 5% of attorneys practicing in the State of Georgia.
Read MoreHAGRS LLP Welcomes New Associate Brian S. Abrams
HAGRS LLP is pleased to announce that Brian S. Abrams has joined the firm as an associate in its Atlanta office. Brian joins the firm following clerkships at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit with the Honorable Frank M. Hull (2016-2017) and at the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia, with the Honorable Harold L. Murphy (2014-2016), where he gained invaluable experience in the federal trial and appellate courts.
Brian attended Vanderbilt University, where he graduated cum laude with an undergraduate degree in History with highest honors and Political Science. He received his law degree at the University of Georgia School of Law, where he graduated magna cum laude, was inducted into the Order of the Coif, and was an editor of the Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law.
Brian’s practice will focus on employment law (advising employers on compliance with employment laws and defending employers in workplace-related litigation) and on complex commercial litigation matters. See Brian’s full bio at: https://hgrslaw.com/team/brian-s-abrams/.
Read MoreU.S. News & World Report ranks HAGRS LLP in 2018 “Best Law Firms”
HAGRS LLP is ranked in the 2018 U.S. News & World Report – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” list in two practice area categories. HAGRS is ranked regionally in Employment Law – Management (Tier 1) and Litigation – Labor and Employment (Tier 1). According to the selection committee, rankings are “based on a rigorous evaluation process,” and law firms included in the 2018 “Best Law Firms” list are “recognized for professional excellence with persistently impressive ratings from clients and peers. Achieving a tiered ranking signals a unique combination of quality law practice and breadth of legal expertise.”
Read MoreFive HGRS LLP Partners Recognized as Georgia Super Lawyers
Five partners at Hall, Arbery, Gilligan, Roberts and Shanlever LLP (Wit Hall, Chris Arbery, Matt Gilligan, Dave Roberts, and Rebecca Shanlever) have been recognized as 2017 “Georgia Super Lawyers” as published by Atlanta Magazine. According to the selection committee, Super Lawyers are those who have “achieved excellence in their practice” and are selected based on peer recognition and professional achievement.
Read MoreNew Counsel Donna Keeton Enhances Firm’s Affirmative Action Compliance Practice and Is Licensed in California
Donna Keeton joined the Firm earlier this month as Of Counsel, bringing more than 17 years of experience in guiding and representing companies with regard to various employment-related issues, including discrimination and harassment, reasonable accommodations and leaves of absence, wage and hour issues, layoffs and terminations, and employment agreements.
Donna also brings substantial expertise and experience assisting government contractors and subcontractors in complying with their affirmative action and other obligations and defending contractors and subcontractors during compliance reviews initiated by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract and Compliance Programs (OFCCP) and similar state and local agencies.
Donna completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania and obtained her J.D. from the University of Georgia School of Law. She is admitted to practice in all state courts in both Georgia and California, as well as numerous federal district and appellate courts throughout the country.
Read MoreHGRS Selected by Super Lawyers as Georgia’s Top Small Firm in Employment Law
Leading legal industry publication “Super Lawyers” has named Hall, Arbery, Gilligan, Roberts & Shanlever LLP as the 2015 “Top Law Firm” in Georgia in the small firm category for employment law. We are honored and sincerely grateful to all our clients who have made this possible.
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Maury Bowen Joins Savannah Office as Partner
Our Savannah office continues to grow with the addition of attorney Maury Bowen as a partner. Maury brings 20 years of diverse experience to the firm, most recently as a partner at another law firm and before that as Assistant General Counsel for a sizable corporation.
In her labor and employment practice, Maury advises and defends corporate clients On a wide variety of issues, including lawsuits, arbitrations, administrative charges, employment decisions of all types, collective bargaining issues, and multi-employer benefit plan management.
Maury also has a thriving corporate law practice, in which she advises on entity formation, asset sales and acquisitions, workforce restructuring, and various other matters.
Ms. Bowen is a 1994 graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law, with an undergraduate degree from the University of the South at Sewanee. She is an active member of the Savannah community and has served on boards for a number of charitable and educational organizations.
We are extremely excited to have such a strong presence in Savannah with Maury and Kristen Goodman, both of whom are long-time residents with outstanding professional reputations and relationships. Including our main office in Atlanta, the firm now has 12 lawyers focused on employment law and related litigation.
Read MoreHGRS LLP Opens Savannah Office with New Partner Kristen Wigh Goodman
We are extremely pleased to welcome Savannah attorney Kristen Goodman as a partner in the firm. Ms. Goodman joins us from Goodman Law Firm, which she founded in 2002. She was the lead appellate Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Department of Justice in the Southern District of Georgia, before founding her own firm. Kristen will continue to practice in Savannah and Atlanta, handling a variety of legal matters, including litigation and advice on employment-related issues. Her practice also focuses on business law, unfair trade practices, health care law, Constitutional law, and appellate matters. She has extensive experience representing clients in the logistics industry and in the medical field.
Kristen is an Atlanta native who graduated with high honors from Emory University in 1989 and the University of Georgia School of Law (magna cum laude) in 1993. She is licensed in both Texas and Georgia. After clerking for the Honorable J.L. Edmondson on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, Kristen worked as an associate in the employment and labor group for Baker Botts, LLP in Houston Texas, and later as a litigation associate with Hunter Maclean in Savannah.
Read MorePreliminary Injunction Obtained by HAGRS LLP Leads to Favorable Settlement
We recently resolved a restrictive covenant dispute in favor of our client after obtaining a preliminary injunction to enforce the covenant. After an employee announced her resignation to work for a competitor, we obtained a preliminary injunction against the employee in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, precluding her continued employment. The employee appealed to the Eleventh Circuit. After the issues were fully briefed, and after being sidelined for seven months, the employee and the competitor agreed to various restrictions and a substantial payment to our client.
Read MoreHGRS LLP’s Client Win Upheld on Appeal
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently affirmed the grant of summary judgment and dismissal of claims against our client for alleged retaliation under 42 U.S.C. § 1981. In a case filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, a former employee claimed he had been terminated in retaliation for making allegations of race discrimination against the same manager in a prior job for another employer. In its order dated December 8, 2014, the Eleventh Circuit held that the plaintiff failed to show that our client’s legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for the discharge was untrue or a pretext for retaliation.
Read MoreNew Partners, New Counsel, New Name
The employment law firm of Hall, Arbery & Gilligan LLP has gained two new partners, David Allen Roberts and Rebecca Williams Shanlever, and a new counsel, Jonathan D. Letzring. The new firm, Hall, Arbery, Gilligan, Roberts & Shanlever LLP, focuses on matters related to the workplace, including litigation and advice regarding non-compete and other employment agreements, compliance with federal and state employment laws, and virtually all aspects of the employment relationship.
Dave Roberts joins the new firm after founding and managing The Roberts Firm, P.C. since 2005, where he developed a thriving boutique non-compete practice in addition to serving clients in many other areas of employment law. Prior to establishing his own firm, Roberts practiced with Greenberg Traurig, Seyfarth Shaw, and Fisher Phillips. He has nearly 18 years of employment law and litigation experience. His practice emphasizes non-compete litigation and drafting, trade secrets and unfair competition, harassment, discrimination and retaliation cases and other employment litigation and preventative matters.
Rebecca Shanlever moves her practice from Troutman Sanders LLP, where she was a partner in that firm’s Labor & Employment Section. For more than 15 years, she has been litigating employment and business disputes and advising clients on a wide variety of employment issues. Shanlever has extensive experience handling discrimination, harassment, and retaliation cases through all stages of litigation, from informal settlements and mediations to motion practice and jury trials. She also has significant experience with non-compete and related matters, including a favorable ruling in one of the first decisions involving Georgia’s new law on restrictive covenants.
In addition to the two new partners, the firm also welcomed Jonathan D. Letzring as counsel in December 2013. Jonathan is a former law clerk to the Honorable Phyllis Kravitch on the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, and the Honorable Timothy Batten in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Before joining the firm, he was an associate with King & Spalding in Atlanta. Jonathan will focus his practice on employment litigation and employment-related business disputes.
“We are extremely pleased to welcome Dave, Rebecca, and Jonathan to our team. The excellent legal skills, experience, and reputation that each of them brings to the table will enhance our ability to serve clients in virtually every industry,” said Wit Hall, the firm’s managing partner. “We are growing,” said Mr. Hall, “but we will remain intensely focused on providing first-rate, efficient, and cost-effective solutions for clients throughout Atlanta, the state of Georgia, and the southeast region.”
The predecessor firm was founded by Wit Hall, Chris Arbery, and Matt Gilligan in 2010, each of whom has focused on employment law for his entire career in private practice. The new firm currently has nine attorneys.
The firm recently was recognized in 2013 Super Lawyers Business Edition as the “Top Small Law Firm” for employment law in the state of Georgia.
Read More2013 Super Lawyers Business Edition Top Small Law Firm in Georgia
The firm is proud to be recognized in the 2013 Super Lawyers Business Edition as the “Top Small Law Firm” for Employment Law in the state of Georgia. Super Lawyers Business Edition is an annual resource that serves as the go-to-guide for general counsel and businesses when making legal hiring decisions. Super Lawyers is a research-driven, peer influenced rating service of outstanding lawyers and law firms who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.
Read MoreSpotlight on Practice Area: OFCCP/Affirmative Action Plans
Hall, Arbery & Gilligan LLP partner Wit Hall has years of experience advising clients about federal government contract requirements including the drafting of affirmative action plans (AAPs), defense of compliance reviews and glass ceiling audits, and general compliance with Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) regulations.
We can help you navigate OFCCP rules, regulations, and procedures. Our firm can determine whether your organization is a covered contractor under Executive Order 11246 and its regulations; develop AAPs; train human resources and staffing personnel on compliance obligations; defend your organization during a compliance review or audit; and represent your organization during negotiation of conciliation agreements or defense of an OFCCP enforcement action.
For more information, contact Wit Hall or Elizabeth Newton.
Read MoreWit Hall and Chris Arbery Named “Georgia Super Lawyers”
February 2013 – Two of the founding partners of Hall, Arbery & Gilligan LLP (Wit Hall and Chris Arbery) have been recognized as 2013 “Georgia Super Lawyers” as published by Atlanta Magazine. According to the selection committee, Super Lawyers are those who have “achieved excellence in their practice” and are selected based on peer recognition and professional achievement.
Read MoreHGRS Obtains Another Complete Dismissal of Claims
February 2013 – Hall, Arbery & Gilligan LLP recently obtained dismissal of all claims in an employment case against its client, a nationwide retailer, on a successful motion to dismiss. The plaintiff, a former employee of the retailer, filed a complaint alleging various tort claims including intentional infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy, and tortious interference with business relations. The Superior Court of Cobb County, Georgia, granted the motion to dismiss on February 11, 2013.
Read MoreHall, Arbery & Gilligan LLP Starts 2013 with a String 0f Litigation Successes
Hall, Arbery & Gilligan LLP secured successful outcomes for several clients early in 2013 in cases involving Title VII civil rights claims, business disputes over competition by departed employees, and tort claims filed against a former employer. In two cases pending in the Northern District of Georgia, we obtained complete summary judgment in a Title VII retaliation case, and a complete dismissal of all claims in a 14-count business dispute lawsuit filed against a recently departed employee. In two state court cases, HA&G obtained dismissals in another departed employee business tort and restrictive covenant case, and in a case filed by a former employee alleging tortious interference, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and invasion of privacy.
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