Managing Partner: Nancy E Rafuse
Chair: R Lawrence Ashe, Jr
- Number of Partners: 9
- Number of other lawyers: 11
FIRM OVERVIEW: Ashe, Rafuse & Hill, LLP is an employment, civil rights and commercial litigation firm based in Atlanta, Georgia. Dedicated to delivering the highest quality legal services and advice, the firm has established a reputation for recruiting and developing outstanding courtroom attorneys with significant jury trial experience. Since Ashe, Rafuse & Hill’s inception in 2003, its partners have handled matters in more than 25 states and have successfully tried or arbitrated over 30 cases,with verdicts favorable to their clients.The firm also has made a name for itself as the “go to”firm for the defense of Rule 23 employment class actions and collective actions brought under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), successfully defeating multiple nationwide challenges from New York to Miami. Ashe, Rafuse & Hill’s attorneys have also tried and won more discrimination class actions than any other defense firm in the country, regardless of size, and represent large and small clients in a wide array of commercial, labor and employment, civil rights and product liability disputes nationwide. Ashe, Rafuse & Hill, LLP provides its services at an extremely competitive price, an achievement made possible by its specialized focus on litigation, its devotion to efficiency and the avoidance of unnecessary overhead. The firm prioritizes expenditures for top legal talent, technology and the other true necessities of a sophisticated practice while foregoing the frills generally found in larger firms. Ashe, Rafuse & Hill, LLP, has as its three name partners, Lawrence Ashe,Nancy Rafuse and William Hill, each recognized in ‘Best Lawyers in America’ and in ‘the Best Attorneys in Atlanta’ in Law & Politics, as published by Atlanta Magazine. Additionally, partners Dan Turner, Gardner Culpepper and Joe Sharp have been recognized as ‘Rising Stars’ in the legal community as published by Atlanta Magazine.
MAIN AREAS OF PRACTICE:
Employment & Civil Rights: Ashe, Rafuse & Hill, LLP represents and advises clients on virtually every aspect of employment law, including by way of illustration, representation of employers in response to claims asserted under every non-discrimination statute (e.g., Title VII, ADEA, ADA), traditional labor laws, as well as other employment-related statutes (e.g., FLSA, WARN, FMLA) and related state statutes and causes of action. The breadth of Ashe, Rafuse & Hill’s employment practice has resulted in the expansion of its expertise into all areas of civil rights litigation, including Titles II, VI and IX, Section 1981, and ADA claims, as well as customer accommodation claims. Nancy Rafuse and William Hill successfully tried multiple public accommodation cases throughout the southeast to complete defense verdicts on behalf of a national restaurant chain. William Hill also recently concluded a trial on behalf of a multinational manufacturer with judgment as a matter of law at the close of plaintiff 's evidence thereby defeating plaintiff ’s Section 1981 race discrimination and retaliation claims.
Collective & Class Actions: The country’s largest employers regularly turn to Ashe, Rafuse & Hill’s lawyers to face the growing national trend of litigation brought under the FLSA. On behalf ofmultiple national retail chains, the firm has defeated nationwide certification challenges to the use of the exemption for store managers and assistant managers and putative class actions asserting off-the-clock work. The partners at Ashe, Rafuse &Hill, LLP also have tried to a conclusion more discrimination Rule 23 class actions than any other management employment firm in the country and have defeated class certification in numerous cases. Lawrence Ashe has been recognized by the National Law Journal as the “dean of the management class action bar” and is one of only two career employment lawyers selected for membership into the American College of Trial Lawyers. Lawrence Ashe and Nancy Rafuse represented the State of California against a challenge to the use of the State’s teacher licensing examination, which is believed to be the largest employment class action ever to be tried to a successful defense result. Ashe, Rafuse & Hill, LLP is also frequently retained as co-counsel to many companies’ regular outside counsel because of its lawyers’ unique experience and expertise in employment and civil rights class and collective actions.
Commercial Litigation: Ashe, Rafuse & Hill’s Commercial Litigation Division is composed of trial lawyers who prosecute and defend multifaceted, sophisticated commercial matters for their clients. Ashe, Rafuse & Hill, LLP’s litigators have significant experience litigating various types of matters including those involving business transactions, financial services, real estate, products liability, insurance coverage, professional negligence, unfair competition, false advertising, intellectual property, and securities. They have substantial trial and appellate experience in federal and state courts in Georgia and throughout the country, as well as multi-district litigation experience. They also regularly represent clients in alternative dispute resolution proceedings including arbitrations and mediations, as well as provide arbitration and mediation services as the neutral. William BHill, a former trial court judge, is the Chair of the Commercial Litigation Division and has an outstanding trial record, including representing a defendant in a products liability case which was recognized by the National Law Journal as one of the top 20 defense verdicts in 2002, and an automotive manufacturer in a jury trial recognized as one of the big defense verdicts of 2007.
Select Reported Cases: In re: rite Aid Coro.Wage and Hour Employment Practices Litig., F. Supp 2d 2009 WL 4572867 (U.S. Jud. Pan.Mult. Lit.Dec. 2, 20; Brock Built, LLC U.Blake, SE.2d 2009 WL 3682193 (ba. Ct. App.Noc. 6, 2009);Holt v.Rite Aid Corp., 333 F. Supp. 2d 1265 (M.D.Ala. 2004); Gutierrez v. Johnson & Johnson, 467 F. Supp. 2d 403 (D.N.J. 2006); Johnson v. Georgia Television Co., 435 F. Supp. 2d 1237 (N.D. Ga. 2006); Jackson v.Waffle House, Inc., 413 F. Supp. 2d 1338 (N.D. Ga. 2006); Solomon v.Waffle House, Inc., 365 F. Supp. 2d 1312 (N.D. Ga. 2004);AMAE v.California, 937 F. Supp. 1397 (N.D. Cal. 1996), affirmed en banc, 231 F.3d 572 (9th Cir. 2000); Reid v. Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., 205 F.R.D. 655 (N.D. Ga. 2001);Yarbrough v. Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., 205 F.R.D. 655 (N.D. Ga. 2001); Rhodes v.Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc., 213 F.R.D. 619 (N.D. Ga.March 7, 2003);Yaali, Ltd. v. Barnes & Noble, Inc., 269 Ga. 695, 506 S.E.2d 116 (1998).