Phelps Dunbar's Florida Growth Continues With the Announcement of a New Partner
Aug 30, 2010 – Phelps Dunbar LLP continues its growth in the Tampa market with the addition of Reed L. Russell, who has joined the firm's Tampa office as an equity partner in the regional employment law practice group."Attorneys like Reed don't come along too often and his equal in the southeast would be difficult to find. His past experience as Legal Counsel of the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has already drawn interest from clients hopeful to gain his unique perspective," said John Phillips, Practice Coordinator of the firm's Florida Employment Practice. "In addition, Reed brings high-level wage and hour class action experience on a national level, which is one of the hottest areas of employment law at the moment."
Mr. Russell's practice focuses on large employers in all aspects of wage and hour and employment discrimination law, with an emphasis on complex litigation and strategic advice. He also regularly provides strategic advice to several large companies in relation to equal employment opportunity issues, including: analyzing planned reductions in force; evaluating employment selection and pay practices through statistical audits; and advising companies on policies for screening and selecting applicants, such as disability leave and background checks.
Prior to joining the Phelps Dunbar, Mr. Russell was a partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP in Washington, D.C., was a senior editor to ABA's Section of Labor and Employment Law supplement, The Fair Labor Standards Act, and assisted in researching and editing their EEOC Litigation and Charge Resolution (2005). Most recently, he served as management side co-chair of the chapter on collective actions for the forthcoming second edition of The Fair Labor Standards Act. He is former legal counsel of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, where he was responsible for developing agency policy on the federal anti-discrimination statutes, and serving as the EEOC Chair's chief legal advisor. In addition, Mr. Russell is a former major in the Army National Guard and a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Mr. Russell received his J.D., summa cum laude, from Catholic University of America in 1999, where he was the valedictorian of his class and the managing editor of The Catholic University Law Review. He received his B.S. in 1991 from Wake Forest University. Mr. Russell is admitted in the District of Columbia, Florida, U.S. District Court of Maryland, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
The addition of Mr. Russell brings the total employment practice in Florida to ten attorneys, comprised of four partners, five associates and one special counsel attorney. Phelps now has 48 total attorneys in the Tampa office.
Phelps Dunbar is a regional law firm of more than 280 attorneys, with offices in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Jackson, Tupelo, and Gulfport, Mississippi; Houston, Texas; Tampa, Florida; Mobile, Alabama and London, England. Since 2001, the Tampa office has grown from six attorneys to more than 45 that handle a wide variety of legal matters in numerous client service areas.
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