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Ogletree snags Rodney Harrison, Lance Witcher, James Paul
for Clayton office

April 25, 2008

Article in St. Louis Business Journal contributed to by R. Michael Lowenbaum

Ogletree snags Rodney Harrison, Lance Witcher, James Paul for Clayton office
Competition for local labor lawyers is increasing. Ogletree Deakins, a national labor law firm based in Atlanta that launched a practice in Clayton last summer, hired three labor lawyers this month. Rodney Harrison, who was a partner at Thompson Coburn, and Lance Witcher who was with Husch Blackwell Sanders, both joined the firm in early April.

The third attorney, James Paul, notified his firm, Lathrop & Gage, that he would be joining Ogletree Deakins the last week in April.

Gregg Lemley, a co-managing partner at Ogletree's St. Louis office, said all three are coming to the firm as shareholders. With the additions, Ogletree now has nine lawyers in the St. Louis area.

The expansion comes two months after Littler Mendelson, another national labor practice based in San Francisco, expanded here in January. Littler hired seven labor lawyers from Brown & James and Thompson Coburn. Littler Mendelson subsequently hired two associates, Patricia Martin and Karen Brooks, who both had been with Thompson Coburn.

Lemley, co-managing partner Tim Garnett and Heidi Kuns Durr started Ogletree's office here last August. Lemley and Durr came from Bryan Cave, and Garnett, a former Bryan Cave attorney, came from Kinder Morgan Inc. of Houston, which operates natural gas pipelines. They were later joined by Nathan Plum and Eric Todd, who came from Stinson Morrison Hecker, and Joshua Bortnick, who came from Hepler Broom MacDonald Hebrank True & Noce.

Ogletree Deakins has 33 offices and more than 400 lawyers nationwide. The firm's local office recently moved into permanent space at 7700 Bonhomme Ave. The office is built to accommodate 16 lawyers, and Ogletree has options to expand its space to hold 20, Lemley said.

He said he expects work to follow to Olgetree, but he declined to identify any specific local clients.

Ogletree's national labor clients include Pepsico, Millennium Hotels & Resorts and Kinder Morgan.

The expansion of the labor law firms comes as employers have more need for their services, said Mike Lowenbaum, founder of The Lowenbaum Partnership, which has 26 labor attorneys. "As the economy has difficulties, there's generally more business," he said, as employers consider layoffs and other personnel moves that require them to consult with labor lawyers.

National labor law practices generally have a fee structure lower than general practice law firms that operate nationally, Lowenbaum said. Lowenbaum's firm has hourly fees ranging from $120 to $315, which he said can be as much as $100 an hour less than rates charged by top general practice law firms.

Lemley declined to discuss Ogletree's fee range.

National labor law firms typically represent national businesses with multiple locations, Lemley said, and because the law firms themselves have multiple locations, they are in a position to draw on experience from lawyers around the country. More companies also are insuring their labor costs, he said, which can place corporate law firms that also represent insurance firms in conflict with client insurance companies.