Atlanta HR Star Conference Thursday, October 11, 2012 Speaker Information David Gevertz, Esq. is a Shareholder with Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, P.C. and the Vice Chairperson of the Labor & Employment Department. He has more than thirteen years of experience representing large public and privately held companies throughout the country in complex employment litigation. Mr. Gevertz defends class and collective actions; single and multi-plaintiff claims of racial, age, national origin, disability and religious discrimination, harassment and retaliation under state and federal laws; Family and Medical Leave Act claims; executive agreement and restrictive covenant litigation; drug-testing disputes; and reduction-in-force challenges. His practice also involves litigating accommodations claims brought against restaurants, theme parks, testing entities and other places of public accommodation under the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act and related state and local laws. In addition, Mr. Gevertz advocates employment law compliance and litigation avoidance for his clients. He counsels companies on conducting nationwide reductions-in-force, drafting and implementation of employment policies and procedures, investigating allegations of internal unethical and/or unlawful conduct, conducting comprehensive employment audits, negotiating employment contracts and restrictive covenants, and providing hiring, disciplinary and termination-related advice. Mr. Gevertz is a graduate of Harvard Law School. Annette A. Idalski, Esq. is a Shareholder in the Atlanta office of Chamberlain Hrdlicka. Her practice involves litigation, employee relations counseling and management training. She has defended employers nationwide against single and multi-plaintiff lawsuits involving race, gender, age and disability discrimination, workplace harassment, traditional labor matters, wage and hour compliance, restrictive covenants, contract disputes, and whistleblower actions. Ms. Idalski proactively counsels employers on employment issues concerning complex leaves of absence, hiring and firing, wage and hour compliance, mergers and acquisitions, and collective bargaining matters. In addition, she conducts legal compliance audits of clients' human resources functions and prepares employee policies and handbooks and employment agreements. Ms. Idalski also conducts training courses on prevention of litigation with respect to sexual harassment and discrimination under Title VII, FMLA, ADA, FLSA, FCRA, and other state and federal employment laws. Ms. Idalski is Past President of the Georgia Association For Women Lawyers and has served as a board member since 2002. Clare Draper, Esq. is a Partner in the Labor and Employment Group at Alston & Bird LLP in Atlanta, Georgia and consistently has been named a "Georgia Super Lawyer" by Atlanta Magazine. His practice covers all areas of labor and employment law. Having served as lead counsel in all types of labor and employment litigation for over 20 years throughout the country, Mr. Draper has developed extensive expertise in assisting clients with HR management issues, including litigation prevention, development and implementation of workplace policies and practices, reductions and expansions of the workforce, employee retention, union/management issues, regulatory compliance and negotiating, drafting and litigating employment agreements, restrictive covenants and separation agreements. Mr. Draper is a nationally known expert in the field of government-mandated affirmative action plans, and he serves as national affirmative action counsel for several companies, including the second largest private employer in the U.S. In addition, he is the author of several employment related publications, the latest of which is the Pike & Fisher/BNA book Workplace Privacy: A Guide for Attorneys and HR Professionals. Mr. Draper received his B.A. from Yale and his J.D. from Vanderbilt, where he was an associate editor on the Vanderbilt Law Review. Charles H. Kuck, Esq. is the Managing Partner of Kuck Immigration Partners LLC, an Atlanta and Miami-based immigration law firm where he manages its nationwide immigration practice. He is also the National President of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (“AILA”) where has served on the National Executive Committee for the past four years and on its Board of Governors for six years. Mr. Kuck's practice involves assisting employers and employees with business and professional visas, labor certifications, immigrant visas, consular representation, and citizenship matters for foreign executives, managers, professionals, and workers. He has represented asylum seekers in more than 400 trials before the immigration court. Mr. Kuck also advises employers on compliance procedures in verifying the work eligibility of new employees as required under the I-9 employer sanctions provisions of federal law. In addition, Mr. Kuck serves as Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Georgia, where he teaches immigration law classes. He is listed in Who’s Who of International Corporate Immigration Attorneys, Chambers USA, America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, The World’ Leading Lawyers For Business and in Atlanta Magazine as a “Georgia Super Lawyer.” He is the Editor-in-Chief of the AILA Litigation Toolbox, a how-to book on representing clients before the immigration and federal courts. Mr. Kuck has practiced immigration law for more than 20 years, has testified before Congress on immigration law, and frequently appears in the news media, including: CBS, FoxNews, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, National Public Radio, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times and Business Week. M. Kim Vance, Esq. is a Shareholder in the Labor and Employment Group at Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, P.C where she has over twenty years of experience representing management in every aspect of labor and employment law. Ms. Vance is listed in Chambers USA's America's Leading Business Lawyers as a leading labor and employment lawyer in Tennessee. Also, she has been listed in Best Lawyers in America and in Mid-South Super Lawyers since 2007. In addition to defending companies in employment litigation, Ms. Vance's practice focuses upon: presenting in-house management training programs to reduce employment-related legal risks for companies across the nation, counseling management clients through auditing human resources policies and practices to reduce legal risks, and developing pre-litigation strategies to improve available defenses in preparation for litigation. Ms. Vance earned her J.D. at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law School with High Honors. Debbie McGrath is the CEO of HR.com, a company committed to delivering HR best practices and helping organizations build great businesses through community, collaboration, research, shared best practices and measurements. Prior to starting HR.com, Debbie owned The CEO Group, a Canadian and European entity that created job board software, talent management software, HTC career magazines and career fairs. In August of 1998, The CEO Group was sold to Kaplan (now BrassRing.com), a fully-owned subsidiary of the Washington Post Company. During her tenure, Debbie served as President of the Canadian and European operations, as well as Vice President of Worldwide Sales. Complementing her extensive background in human resources, publishing and the Internet, Debbie also holds a degree in Computer Science and Business Administration through the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. Joshua P. Itzoe, CFP, AIF is a Principal of Greenspring Wealth Management, a registered investment advisory firm located in Towson, MD. He leads the firm’s institutional practice which provides fiduciary consulting and investment advisory services to corporate retirement plans, committees and trustees. One of the country’s leading experts on 401(k) fiduciary responsibility, Mr. Itzoe has written for Benefits & Compensation Digest and is a sought after speaker on retirement and fiduciary matters. He is the author of Fixing the 401(k): What Fiduciaries Must Know and Do to Help Employees Retire Successfully and has been quoted extensively in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, U.S. News & World Report, SmartMoney Magazine, Yahoo Finance, MSN Money and PLANADVISER Magazine, among others. Mr. Itzoe graduated with honors from Wake Forest University and is a Certified Financial Planner. He also earned the Accredited Investment Fiduciary® professional designation for investment fiduciary responsibility. David Long-Daniels, Esq. is a Shareholder with Greenberg Traurig LLP. He is a trial lawyer and represents clients in all employment matters, including claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Americans With Disabilities Act, and other federal and state labor and employment matters. A celebrated speaker at numerous conferences and seminars, Mr. Long-Daniels has been included in Chambers & Partners USA Guide, an annual listing of the leading business lawyers and law firms in the world, as well as recognized as part of Georgia's Legal Elite by Georgia Trend. Mr. Long-Daniels is active in the Atlanta community providing general counsel for the Atlanta Community Food Bank, and he serves on several boards. He is a graduate of the Mercer University Walter F. George School of Law where he has also taught as an Adjunct Law Professor. Ann Kiernan, Esq. is the Lead Trainer at Fair Measures, Inc. - a company that provides legal training and solutions for corporate managers and executives. She offers training expertise on a wide variety of topics, including: managing leaves of absence, hiring, termination, disability accommodations, harassment, privacy and discrimination. Ms. Kiernan began her career as an attorney since 1981. She has litigated claims of wrongful discharge and discrimination before state and federal courts and administrative matters before the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights, the National Labor Relations Board and the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, representing both employers and employees. Ms. Kiernan co-hosted The Employee Rights Forum, a weekly radio call-in show reaching a half-million listeners in the New York metropolitan area, and her articles on employment law have been published in many books and magazines. Ms. Kiernan has worked with Fair Measures since 1997, and her clients have included Adobe, Oracle, Sun Microsystems, Orchid BioSciences, AmSurg among many others. Dethra U. Giles, MBA, MSCM is the Director of HR Administration at Emory University and a member of the Board of Directors for ExecuPrep: an HR training, consulting and executive coaching firm located in Atlanta, GA. She holds an M.B.A. with a concentration in Human Resources Management and Organizational Development as well as an M.S. in Conflict Management - both from Kennesaw State University. In addition, Dethra is a Certified Trainer of Workplace Mediation and a Registered Neutral through the Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution. Professionally, Dethra has worked with a large number of outstanding organizations in her career, including State Farm Insurance Companies, the Department of Labor, the Small Business Development Center and the Georgia Women Entrepreneur Network. Ryan Behrens is a Development Officer for Georgia’s Own Credit Union which is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Through his position and extensive knowledge of the financial industry, Ryan has acquired far-reaching expertise working as a consumer advocate to help organizations and employees achieve their financial goals. In this capacity, he organizes, develops, manages and presents financial education programs on a regular basis to many of the business partners and member companies of Georgia’s Own Credit Union as part of their ongoing employee financial education training. As an ambassador for two different Georgia County Chambers of Commerce, Ryan has displayed a passion for promoting sound economic development, fostering a pro-business environment and helping those in his community achieve their financial goals. Ryan holds a degree in Business Administration through Georgia Southern University. Barry W. Pruitt is President of J & B Pinnacle Business Concepts based in South Carolina. A prominent international business consultant, educator, author, workshop leader and keynoter, Barry has spoken professionally around the world in countries ranging from France, England and Germany to the Bahamas and Australia. His areas of focus include collaborative negotiation, workplace violence, leadership, employee development, communication skills and other topics. Barry currently teaches at the U.S.C. Business School and has been published in a wide variety of national magazines. He has also appeared on national television and syndicated radio as a topic expert. Barry’s clients include: US Airways, American Airlines, BNSF Railway, BTI World Travel, BellSouth, Dell, Johns Hopkins, Omni Hotels, Spelman College, TRX, Wal-Mart, Walt Disney and various government agencies. Braden L. Albert is the Founder and President of the HR Star Conference and its parent company, Abbington Court Media. A graduate of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, Braden began organizing job fairs and trade shows in the mid-1990's. Intrigued by the idea of bringing people together for a shared, learning experience - and impressed by the impact such an experience can provide - Braden organized his first HR Star Conference in 1999. Today, the scope of the HR Star Conference includes annual events in Los Angeles, California; Atlanta, Georgia; San Francisco, California; and Cleveland, Ohio. Over 3,000 HR professionals attended an HR Star Conference in 2011.