Four Ogletree Deakins Shareholders Named “Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers in America©
August 22, 2013
GREENVILLE, SC – August 23, 2013 – Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C. (Ogletree Deakins), one of the largest labor and employment law firms representing management, announced that four Greenville shareholders were named by Best Lawyers® as Lawyer of the Year. Lewis Smoak earned the recognition in the Employment Law – Management category, Gray Geddie was selected in the Greenville Litigation – Environmental category, Tom Christina earned the recognition in the Greenville Litigation – ERISA category, and Al Phinney was chosen in the Greenville Labor Law – Management category. Best Lawyers® annually identifies a single lawyer in each designated practice area and metropolitan area to honor as the Lawyer of the Year.
Lawyers being honored as Lawyer of the Year are selected based on particularly impressive voting averages received during exhaustive peer-review assessments Best Lawyers® conducts with thousands of leading lawyers each year. Receiving this designation reflects the high level of respect a lawyer has earned among other leading lawyers in the same communities and the same practice areas for their abilities, their professionalism, and their integrity.
Smoak, Geddie, Christina, and Phinney were also selected by their peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© 2014 (Copyright 2013 by Woodward/White, Inc., of Aiken, SC). This list is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey in which almost 50,000 leading attorneys cast nearly five million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their practice areas
Smoak, a founding shareholder of Ogletree Deakins, has more than 40 years of experience representing employers in labor and employment matters. He has been included on the Best Lawyers in America© list every year since 1991. He has also been selected by his peers for inclusion in the ABA’s College of Labor and Employment Lawyers and Chambers USA. Smoak has served on the Greenville and South Carolina State Chambers of Commerce and currently serves on the State Chamber’s Good Government Committee. He has served on the board of the South Carolina Business and Industry Political Education Committee since 2002 and its Executive Committee since 2004.
Geddie is one of Ogletree Deakins’ founding shareholders and served as managing shareholder of the firm from 2001-2010. This is the third consecutive year he has been named by Best Lawyers® as a Lawyer of the Year, and he has been included on the Best Lawyers in America© list for almost 20 years. Geddie was elected as a Fellow in The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, and he is certified by the South Carolina Supreme Court as a Specialist in Labor and Employment Law.
Christina, an attorney with more than 30 years of experience practicing employee benefits and governmental affairs law, has been included on the Best Lawyers in America© list every year since 2003. He is a member of the Employee Benefits Committee of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and is on the Board of Legal Advisors for the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
Phinney has more than 30 years of employment and traditional labor law experience. In addition to his listing in Best Lawyers in America©, he has been recognized as a South Carolina Super Lawyer and is certified by the South Carolina Supreme Court as a specialist in Labor and Employment Law. Phinney is a permanent member of the Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference.
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 more than 650 lawyers located in 44 offices across the United States and in Europe. Ogletree Deakins was named Law Firm of the Year in both the Litigation – Labor & Employment and the Employment Law – Management categories in the 2013 edition of U.S. News – Best Lawyers Best Law Firms list. 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. www.ogletreedeakins.com
