Senior-Level

Douglas M. Towns is an Employment & Labor Partner at Sherman & Howard LLC in Atlanta, Georgia. With more than 20 years of experience, Doug exclusively represents employers in all employment and labor areas, including the following:

• Counseling companies on US and global employment issues involving all aspects of employment law, including, social media, reductions-in-force, immigration compliance, discrimination issues, complex hiring, disciplinary, and termination issues, and executive employment contracts. He regularly assists client with public accommodation audits under Title III of the ADA, immigration audits by ICE, OSHA investigations, glass ceiling audits and OCFFP compensation reviews, and senior-level harassment and discrimination investigations.
• Defending employers in complex employment litigation, including class actions and multi-plaintiff employment discrimination lawsuits, wage-hour collective actions, and state law tort and contract claims. He has represented employers in state and federal courts, arbitrations, appellate courts, and administrative agencies, including the OFCCP and the U.S. Office of Special Counsel.
• Counseling and litigating on the range of legal issues arising from restrictive convents, trade secrets, and the protection of intellectual and human capital.
• Representing management during union organizing efforts, at the bargaining table, and in labor disputes, including emergency injunctions and in interest arbitrations.

Doug has written extensively on employment law, class and collective actions, management of complex employment litigation, e-discovery, mental disabilities, employment issues in corporate acquisitions, contingent workers, immigration compliance, and challenges to the OFCCP’s compensation analysis. He has spoken at more than 250 employment law programs, conducted in-house management training programs, and appeared on CNN “Headline News” as an employment law commentator.

He is also actively involved in the community and on several boards, including serving as General Counsel for Angel Flight Soars, which provides free medical transportation to those in need.

Doug graduated from Emory University and received his J.D. from the University of Virginia where he served on the Virginia Law Review.

John Doran has over 25 years of experience counseling and successfully representing employers in all facets of labor and employment law matters. John represents employers in employment, wage/hour class and collective action litigation, as well as employment discrimination, public accommodations discrimination, and wrongful termination litigation. He represents management in traditional labor law, including the defense of unfair labor practices charges, the orchestration of campaigns to prevent workplace unionization, representation proceedings, and arbitrations. John represents employers in restrictive covenant and trade secret matters in state and federal courts. He also regularly counsels clients on prevention strategies, executive employment contracts, downsizing, personnel policies, and merger/acquisition employment issues.

Greg Hare has been an employment lawyer at Ogletree Deakins his entire career, since 1991. He assists companies with human resources and employment-related litigation matters, including wrongful termination claims, sexual harassment, employment discrimination, employment contracts, trade secrets, and non-compete agreements. He advises clients on a wide range of human resources topics, such as drug testing, employee discipline and discharge, severance planning, independent contractor classifications, wage payment, family and medical leave, disability law, military leave, joint employment issues, affirmative action, and reductions in force. Mr. Hare also counsels clients on traditional labor relations and matters involving the National Labor Relations Board.

Douglas M. Towns is an Employment & Labor Partner at Sherman & Howard LLC in Atlanta, Georgia. With more than 20 years of experience, Doug exclusively represents employers in all employment and labor areas, including the following:

• Counseling companies on US and global employment issues involving all aspects of employment law, including, social media, reductions-in-force, immigration compliance, discrimination issues, complex hiring, disciplinary, and termination issues, and executive employment contracts. He regularly assists client with public accommodation audits under Title III of the ADA, immigration audits by ICE, OSHA investigations, glass ceiling audits and OCFFP compensation reviews, and senior-level harassment and discrimination investigations.
• Defending employers in complex employment litigation, including class actions and multi-plaintiff employment discrimination lawsuits, wage-hour collective actions, and state law tort and contract claims. He has represented employers in state and federal courts, arbitrations, appellate courts, and administrative agencies, including the OFCCP and the U.S. Office of Special Counsel.
• Counseling and litigating on the range of legal issues arising from restrictive convents, trade secrets, and the protection of intellectual and human capital.
• Representing management during union organizing efforts, at the bargaining table, and in labor disputes, including emergency injunctions and in interest arbitrations.

Doug has written extensively on employment law, class and collective actions, management of complex employment litigation, e-discovery, mental disabilities, employment issues in corporate acquisitions, contingent workers, immigration compliance, and challenges to the OFCCP’s compensation analysis. He has spoken at more than 250 employment law programs, conducted in-house management training programs, and appeared on CNN “Headline News” as an employment law commentator.

He is also actively involved in the community and on several boards, including serving as General Counsel for Angel Flight Soars, which provides free medical transportation to those in need.

Doug graduated from Emory University and received his J.D. from the University of Virginia where he served on the Virginia Law Review.

Todd Solomon is a partner in and Chicago local practice group leader of the employee benefits practice group of McDermott Will & Emery LLP in its Chicago office.  Todd focuses his practice primarily on designing, amending, and administering pension plans, 401(k) plans, employee stock ownership plans, 403(b) plans, and nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements.  He also counsels corporations and tax-exempt entities regarding fiduciary and plan investment issues under ERISA, employee benefits issues involved in corporate transactions, executive compensation and Code Section 409A compliance and correction matters, and the implementation of benefit programs for domestic partners.  

Peter A. Gudmundsson is the President & CEO of RecruitMilitary, a sixteen year old company that helps organizations excel by leveraging the talent of our nation’s finest people, our veterans. RecruitMilitary helps companies attract, appreciate and retain high quality veteran employees and students. 

Prior to RecruitMilitary, Gudmundsson founded the Dropout & Truancy Prevention Network, a social enterprise that combined the use of location verification technology with phone-based personal mentor/coaches to keep kids in school and on track to graduate. Many of the mentor/coaches were physically disabled veterans or others with physical challenges that brought maturity, empathy and compassion to their roles.

Most of Gudmundsson’s career has been dedicated to leadership in media, education, information and intellectual property intensive businesses. Before DTPN, he was the founder of the Priceless Legacy Company, a custom publishing company that helped people preserve their life stories and lessons in print and electronic formats

Dick Finnegan is THE global turnover expert, having cut turnover by 30% and more for healthcare, manufacturing, logistics, distribution centers, call centers, and other industries…and on all six inhabited continents.

Dick has authored the top-selling SHRM-published book, The Power of Stay Interviews, along with four other books. BusinessWeek magazine has said “Finnegan offers fresh thinking for solving the turnover problem in any economy”. He has been similarly cited by Forbes, Chief Executive Magazine, and Consulting Magazine.

He holds bachelors and graduate degrees from The Pennsylvania State University and lives in Orlando, Florida.

Diana Yarbrough is known as a champion of diversity, upward mobility and recognition within ADP. She leads the Human Resources department for all of ADP’s Added Value Services

(AVS) division. As division vice president, Diana heads a team of nine associates who services all of AVS and Compliance and Payment Solutions (CAPS). In her more than 20 years with

ADP, Diana has held many positions in a Human Resource capacity.