Ogletree Deakins, one of the largest labor and employment law firms representing management, is pleased to announce that the firm has elevated Bonnie Puckett and Deepa Subramanian to shareholder. Puckett and Subramanian practice in the firm’s Atlanta office and are two of 11 attorneys elected to the 2018 class of new shareholders. Named by Law360 as one of “The 100 Best Law Firms For Female Attorneys,” Ogletree Deakins’ 2018 class is comprised of more than 70 percent women, continuing the firm’s trend of female-dominated shareholder classes.

Puckett leads the firm’s Asia-Pacific practice, advising on all types of cross-border and global employment matters within the Asia region and worldwide and preparing contracts, handbooks, and corporate policies designed for worldwide as well as country-specific use. She develops practical solutions for employers confronting various international challenges from onboarding, to compensation structure, to performance management, to transactional diligence and post-transaction workforce integration, to reductions in force. She counsels employers regarding protection of proprietary information, data privacy, and administering restrictive covenants worldwide, helping clients achieve and administer global procedures as well as local compliance. An experienced litigator, she helps clients resolve disputes involving current and former overseas employees, defending United States-based litigation with international issues and providing strategic direction on litigation overseas. She advises on cross-border dispute resolution issues and procedural requirements, such as multi-country litigation, service of process in foreign jurisdictions, personal jurisdiction over foreign defendants and venue arguments, conflicts of law, and judgment enforcement. Puckett has litigated wage-hour class and collective actions and discrimination lawsuits under statutes such as Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act.
 
Subramanian represents employers in all aspects of employment law, including employment litigation and counseling. She handles single plaintiff and multi-plaintiff matters for large, multi-state and multi-national companies as well as smaller, single-location companies. Subramanian advises and defends clients in federal and state employment-related lawsuits, including actions alleging discrimination, harassment, retaliation, violations of wage and hour law, and breach of contract. In addition, she provides advice to employers concerning litigation avoidance, leaves of absence, employee discipline, hiring and termination issues, reductions in force, and other personnel matters. Subramanian also has experience reviewing and creating employee handbooks and policies, drafting and negotiating employment agreements, severance agreements, covenants not to compete and non-solicitation agreements, in addition to providing training for employers and employees on employment-related issues.