McGuireWoods has added more firepower to its already formidable labor and employment practice as accomplished labor relations lawyers Richard Hankins and Brennan Bolt join the firm as partners in the Atlanta office and Seth Borden joins the firm as a partner in New York.
All three litigators have extensive experience representing management in labor relations matters. They come to McGuireWoods from McKenna, Long & Aldridge, where they were members of the firm’s labor and employment law division. Hankins was head of the division.
Hankins has more than two decades of experience advising corporations on a wide variety of complex labor relations matters such as large-scale union organizing and decertification campaigns, strikes and secondary boycotts, union jurisdictional disputes and successor employer claims. He works closely with management on labor relations strategies related to new facilities, plant closings and consolidations, and during acquisitions and divestitures.
Hankins was lead counsel in one of the largest successful decertification campaigns in U.S. history. He has argued numerous traditional labor cases before U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal and has appeared before more than 15 regions of the National Labor Relations Board. His notable engagements include representing The Boeing Company on labor-related issues involved in the company’s decision to build a new assembly line for the 787 Dreamliner aircraft in Charleston, South Carolina.
The move to McGuireWoods is a homecoming for Hankins and Bolt. Hankins was a partner in McGuireWoods’ Atlanta office from 1999 to 2002. Bolt was an associate from 2002 to 2011.
“We’re excited to welcome Richard and Brennan back to McGuireWoods and to have Seth joining us in New York,” said Joel H. Spitz, chair of the firm’s labor and employment practice. “It is a major coup for us to bring in three high-caliber labor relations lawyers together. Our clients will benefit immensely from the depth and breadth of their experience.”
Hankins is ranked as one of Georgia’s leading labor and employment lawyers by Chambers USA in its 2015 guide. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Freed-Hardeman College in 1982 and his law degree from the University of Mississippi in 1985.
“McGuireWoods has built a strong national labor and employment practice while maintaining its essential values of excellence and commitment to client service,” Hankins said. “I couldn’t be happier to be returning to the firm and to be working with such a highly respected team.”
Bolt represents and advises management in traditional labor issues such as labor relations, collective bargaining, union organizing, unfair labor practice proceedings before the NLRB, and arbitrations. In addition, he has extensive employment litigation experience involving Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) laws, the Family and Medical Leave Act, Fair Labor Standards Act, and other federal and state laws. Bolt also litigates non-compete, trade secrets and related claims and counsels employers in all facets of employee relations.
Bolt received his bachelor’s degree from the College of William and Mary in 1999 and his law degree from the University of Georgia in 2002.
“McGuireWoods was instrumental to my growth as a lawyer and I’m grateful for the opportunity to return to the firm,” Bolt said. “I’m excited to be making this move with Richard and Seth, who have outstanding track records of their own.”
Borden has helped companies develop comprehensive labor relations strategies, advised them on union organizing efforts, and negotiated collective-bargaining agreements for employers in the telecommunications, gaming, food service, logistics and produce wholesale industries. He negotiated what is widely believed to be the first collective bargaining agreement under a Native American tribal labor statute, covering 2,400 employees at a tribal casino. Borden has also litigated numerous EEO and wage-hour cases in state and federal court and served as lead counsel in numerous arbitrations involving issues of discipline, termination, contract interpretation, discrimination and harassment.
Borden earned his bachelor’s degree from Brandeis University in 1995 and his law degree from Brooklyn Law School in 1997.
“McGuireWoods labor and employment practice has an outstanding reputation and I’m proud to be joining such an elite team of lawyers,” Borden said. “I know my clients will benefit from the strong national platform the firm provides.”
Source: www.mcguirewoods.com
