Ogletree Deakins Shareholders Named BTI Client Service All-Stars
February 19, 2013
GREENVILLE, SC – February 19, 2013 – Ogletree Deakins, one of the largest labor and employment law firms representing management, announced that Fred Suggs and Stephen Woods, of the firm’s Greenville office, have been selected as 2013 Client Service All-Stars by the BTI Consulting Group. The BTI Client Service All-Stars are an elite group of attorneys nominated exclusively by corporate counsel in BTI’s independent study as the leaders of client service excellence. This year, BTI interviewed more than 240 corporate counsel from large and Fortune 1000 companies to probe all aspects of client relationships. Responses from those interviews found that client focus, exceptional understanding of the client’s business, outsized value, legal skills, and outstanding results were among the attributes that make for exceptional client service.
Fred Suggs is one of the founding attorneys of Ogletree Deakins. Certified by the South Carolina Supreme Court as a specialist in labor and employment law, Suggs helps companies avoid work-related legal exposure by giving preventive advice and providing training for managers at client locations. Suggs, who has wide experience in labor and employment law, began defending across-the-board class actions in 1976 and has since handled a number of class complaints alleging discrimination based on race, color, sex, and age. He has defended countless individual claims of discrimination before government agencies and state and federal courts and has litigated claims arising under restrictive covenants, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and common law torts and contracts.
Suggs has been included in Best Lawyers in America (1997 to present) and possesses a Band One ranking (the highest possible) in Chambers USA (2005 to present). In 2000, he was inducted into the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, a non-profit professional association honoring the leading lawyers nationwide in the practice of labor and employment. Suggs has served the South Carolina Bar in many positions, including president, and has served as the board chair of the Metropolitan YMCA, general counsel of the Greenville Chamber of Commerce, and counsel to the staff of the Parish Relations Committee at Buncombe Street United Methodist Church. Suggs earned his J.D. from the University of Alabama.
Stephen Woods is the chair of the firm’s Background Check Advice Group and the shareholder-author of the firm’s O-D Comply: Background Check and O-D Comply: E-Signature subscription materials, an innovative, practical solution for clients on some the toughest issues facing employers today. He assists national, regional, and local clients on all labor & employment and HR issues, with a special emphasis on advice and counsel to prevent and minimize legal liability and risk. A top-rated and sought after speaker, Woods frequently lectures on labor and employment topics to professional organizations including the Greenville Chamber of Commerce, Upstate Employers Network, Greenville Society for Human Resources Management, and Business & Legal Resources.
Woods has been included in Best Lawyers in America since 2010. He is AV Preeminent rated by Martindale-Hubbell and Yellow Belt certified in Legal Lean Sigma. Before joining Ogletree Deakins in 1996, Woods served as the Manager of Administrative Services at The Greenville News (Greenville, SC), where he managed the human resources function for this 500-employee newspaper publishing company. He earned his J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law, where he was the Student Bar Association president and was awarded the highest student honor (the Compleat Lawyer Award) given by the University.
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 43 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, including more than half of the Fortune 50 corporations in the United States. www.ogletreedeakins.com
About The BTI Consulting Group
BTI is the leading provider of strategic research to law firms and General Counsel. For the past 20 years, BTI has delivered compelling, custom client surveys to firms with six to 600 partners. BTI also provides syndicated market research about client service, market direction and client satisfaction to more than 200 top law firms. BTI’s work spans 13 different professions, helping clients learn best practices from world-class firms in virtually all professional services industries.
