U.S. News & Best Lawyers Name TELG to 2014 List of “Best Law Firms”

The Employment Law Group® law firm was selected by U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers for inclusion in their 2014 listing of “Best Law Firms.”

The publications said the firm’s ranking — for employment law and litigation in Washington, D.C. — “signals a unique combination of quality law practice and breadth of legal expertise.”

The prestigious “Best Law Firms” listing is based on third-party evaluations of legal knowledge, responsiveness, cost-effectiveness, integrity, and civility, among other factors. U.S. News and Best Lawyers drew attention to The Employment Law Group for its “professional excellence [and] persistently impressive ratings from clients and peers.”

The award adds to the firm’s recent roster of accolades. In September, Lawyer Monthly named The Employment Law Group as its U.S. “Labor & Employment Law Firm of the Year” for the third year running. The firm’s lawyers also have been recognized this year by Super Lawyers, Martindale-Hubbell, and American Lawyer Media.

“A law firm is as good as its clients,” said R. Scott Oswald, managing principal of The Employment Law Group. “That is our formula for success. During the past year we have been proud to fight for some extraordinarily brave and principled people — and to help them win victories that will resound for employees everywhere.”

Among the firm’s recent achievements:

• The first case reported to reach a jury verdict under the 2009 anti-retaliation provisions of the False Claims Act.
• The first holding that the “AIR21” Act can protect whistleblowers employed outside the U.S.
• Selection by employee advocates to draft an amicus curiae brief in the historic Lawson case, the U.S. Supreme Court’s first whistleblower case under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
• Adoption by Maryland courts of the Supreme Court’s new rule for holding employers liable for “cat’s paw” retaliation against whistleblowers.
• National media attention for whistleblower clients including John Melson and Kenneth Smith, who documented misconduct by U.S. military contractors in Afghanistan.

In addition to recognizing The Employment Law Group as a “Best Law Firm,” Best Lawyers earlier selected Mr. Oswald and Nicholas Woodfield, a principal of the law firm, for inclusion in its prestigious guide, The Best Lawyers in America.

The 2014 listing is a repeat honor for both attorneys. Best Lawyers bases its guide on a nationwide poll of leading attorneys in each practice area; almost 50,000 lawyers voted in the latest survey.

Best Lawyers has published its influential legal rankings since 1983; Corporate Counsel magazine has called it “the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice.”

Note: The Best Lawyers in America 2014 is copyright © 2013 by Woodward/White, Inc., Aiken, SC. “Best Lawyers” is a registered trademark of Woodward/White.