Fisher Phillips Attorneys Selected to 2017 Super Lawyers, Rising Stars Lists

ATLANTA (February 21, 2017) – Five attorneys with Atlanta-based Fisher Phillips are listed in Georgia Super Lawyers 2017, while one of the firm’s attorneys has been listed as a Rising Star.

Each year, lawyers nominate their peers for these prestigious lists. Candidates must then pass a rigorous selection process of evaluations based on indicators such as peer recognition and professional achievement in order to be named to the Georgia Super Lawyers list.

Attorneys D. Albert Brannen, Michael Elkon, Joseph Shelton, John Thompson, and Joshua Viau were recognized for their work in employment and labor law.

Matthew Simpson was listed as a Rising Star, an honor based on a multiphase selection process of attorneys who must be 40 years old or younger and in practice for 10 years or less. While up to 5 percent of lawyers in Georgia are named annually to the Super Lawyers list, only 2.5 percent are included in the Rising Stars list.

Georgia Super Lawyers has long been recognized as a comprehensive list of the top lawyers in the state that can be used as a resource for clients seeking legal counsel.

Albert Brannen is the managing partner in the Atlanta office. Since 1982, he has advised employers on a wide variety of union-related matters and assisted them with the administration, negotiation, mediation and arbitration of collective bargaining agreements. He also counsels employers who want to remain union-free with training, preventive strategies and counter-organizing educational campaigns. Brannen has been included in Georgia Super Lawyers since 2005.

Michael Elkon is a partner in the Atlanta office. He specializes in providing advice and handling litigation relating to covenants not to compete, non-solicitation and non-disclosure provisions, employee raiding, trade secrets, the duty of loyalty, deceptive trade practices under state and federal law, the Computer Fraud & Abuse Act, and state computer protection statutes. Elkon has been recognized as a Rising Star or Super Lawyer by Georgia Super Lawyers every year since 2010.

Joseph Shelton is a partner in the Atlanta office. His practice focuses on the defense of employment discrimination claims in trial and appellate courts, as well as litigation in the area of employee defection issues. Shelton also frequently advises employers with all aspects of state and federal employment laws, assists employers in drafting employment agreements, restrictive covenants, personnel policies, and separation agreements. He has been selected for inclusion in Georgia Super Lawyers since 2012.

John Thompson is a partner in the Atlanta office. His practice focuses on wage and hour law, emphasizing issues relating to minimum wage, overtime, timekeeping, and wage-payment requirements. He assists employers in preventive efforts designed to ensure compliance, and he handles both investigations conducted by government agencies and litigation in the wage and hour area. Thompson has been repeatedly selected for inclusion in Georgia Super Lawyers.

Joshua Viau is a partner in the Atlanta office. He has spent his entire legal career advising employers on day to day human resource and labor relations issues with a focus on avoiding problems before they turn into emergency situations such as a government agency audit, EEOC charge, litigation, an unfair labor practice charge, or a union organizing campaign or election petition. Viau was recognized as a Georgia Super Lawyer in 2015 and 2016 and Georgia Super Lawyer – Rising Star from 2006 to 2014.

Matthew Simpson is a partner in the Atlanta office. He represents management in all areas of labor and employment law in state and federal courts as well as before state and federal agencies, including the United States Department of Labor and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Matt has extensive experience defending class and collective actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act and Fair Credit Reporting Act. Simpson has been listed as a Rising Star in Georgia Super Lawyers since 2011.