Ogletree Deakins Named Law Firm of the Year in Litigation – Labor & Employment

November 3, 2011

CHARLESTON, SC – November 3, 2011 – Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C. (Ogletree Deakins), a national labor and employment law firm based in South Carolina, is pleased to announce that the firm has been named the first Law Firm of the Year in Litigation – Labor & Employment in the 2011-2012 U.S. News – Best Lawyers Best Law Firms rankings. Only one law firm in each of the nationally ranked legal practice areas is receiving this recognition. Under the categories Employment Law – Management, Labor Law – Management, and Litigation – Labor & Employment, Ogletree Deakins earned the most first-tier rankings in the United States and a national first-tier ranking. Ogletree Deakins received these distinctions based on a combination of high performance on surveys of clients about the firm’s work in the practice areas, the high regard that lawyers in other firms in the same practice areas have for the firm, and survey information provided by the firm to Best Lawyers.        

We are very pleased that our clients and peers have recognized our commitment to the professional standards that have governed our firm since its founding in South Carolina in 1977, said Lewis Smoak, a founding shareholder of Ogletree Deakins. We are extremely fortunate to represent a large number of outstanding companies, large and small, and we are humbled by their recognition of our efforts to represent them honorably and effectively.

I would first like to thank our clients for recognizing us in this way, said Kim Ebert, Managing Shareholder of Ogletree Deakins. It has been an exceptionally good year for the firm as our model of providing excellent value and premier client service continues to be attractive not only to clients, but also to laterals who have contributed to the significant growth across our national platform.

Ogletree Deakins has had strong performances in recent Best Lawyers surveys. Last month, it was announced that five of the firm’s South Carolina-based attorneys were named Best Lawyers’ 2012 Lawyers of the Year in specified locales and practice areas. Earlier, Ogletree Deakins announced that 26 South Carolina-based attorneys were named to the peer-review publication, The Best Lawyers in America 2012® (Copyright 2011 by Woodward/White, Inc., of Aiken, S.C.). In total, 141 of the firm’s attorneys across 32 of the firm’s offices had been named to the peer-review publication.

With offices in Greenville, Charleston, and Columbia, S.C., Ogletree Deakins started in 1977 with 16 attorneys. This home grown firm has since grown to 600 lawyers located in 40 offices across the United States.

About Ogletree Deakins

Ogletree Deakins is the nation’s third-largest labor and employment law firm, representing management in all types of employment-related legal matters. The firm has more than 600 lawyers located in 40 offices from Miami to Los Angeles. 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, including more than half of the Fortune 50 corporations in the United States. www.ogletreedeakins.com

About Best Lawyers  

The Best Lawyers in America was first published in 1983 and is the oldest and most respected legal referral guide in the United States. Best Lawyers surveys thousands of top attorneys in the United States, who confidentially evaluate the legal abilities of their professional peers. 

About the U.S. News Media Group

The U.S. News Media Group is a multi-platform digital publisher of news and analysis, which includes the monthly U.S. News & World Report magazine. The U.S. News Media Group’s signature franchises include its News You Can Use® brand of journalism and its America’s Best series of consumer guides that includes rankings of colleges, graduate schools, hospitals, health plans, and more.