Seyfarth Shaw Adds Diane M. Soubly, Top ERISA Litigator, to Labor and Employment Practice

Boston, MA (February 7, 2006) - - Seyfarth Shaw LLP, one of America’s leading full service law firms, today announced that Diane M. Soubly has joined the firm as senior counsel in the Labor and Employment Practice Group.  She is resident in the firm’s Boston office.  Previously, Soubly was a shareholder and a founding principal at Vercruysse Murray & Calzone, P.C., an employment law and litigation firm in Bingham Farms, Michigan.

Soubly has represented employers for over twenty-five years in ERISA litigation (including litigation avoidance) and administrative proceedings, labor and employment litigation, agency proceedings, class action litigation and appellate litigation.  She has represented a wide array of Fortune 500 and prominent regional corporate clients.  Her experience in ERISA class action includes fiduciary breach litigation, retiree insurance litigation, cash balance plan litigation and Section 510 class litigation.  In proactive litigation avoidance, she has designed numerous early retirement incentive programs and other ERISA plans for force reductions, ERISA welfare benefit plans, and executive compensation plans.  She routinely counsels employers and plan administrators regarding benefit denials and has represented plan administrators during intraplan proceedings before appeals committees.

“Diane is a nationally recognized complex ERISA litigator with great depth and range in the field of employment law,” stated Jeremy Sherman, chair of the firm’s Labor and Employment Practice Group.  “We are very pleased to welcome an attorney of her reputation and caliber to our group and look forward to working with her to continue to expand our national ERISA litigation practice.”

Seyfarth Shaw has one of the most widely known management labor and employment practices in the United States. With over 290 attorneys dedicated to labor and employment law, the firm offers a unique level of counsel on virtually any labor and employment issue arising in any U.S. or foreign jurisdiction. The firm's ERISA litigators draw upon substantial expertise, experience and skills nationwide.  In complex class actions and other types of ERISA litigation, we possess the advantage of benefit design and transaction experience, as well as technical expertise.  Our practical experience in ERISA and employee benefits litigation avoidance strategies also distinguishes us from other employee benefits practices.  Whether litigators or transactional/consulting attorneys, our firm’s lawyers speak plainly and directly about the frequently complex issues involved in ERISA and employee benefits matters.
“Diane’s wealth of experience and industry recognition is a welcome addition to the firm,” said Lisa J. Damon, managing partner of Seyfarth’s Boston office.  “She is superbly credentialed as an ERISA litigator and will be a significant asset to the Boston office and the national practice group.”

Soubly received her B.A. (magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa), M.A. and Ph.D. from Wayne State University and her J.D. from The University of Michigan Law School (cum laude).  She is a former law clerk to the Honorable Charles L. Levin of the Michigan Supreme Court.  She is a member of the Equal Employment Opportunity Committee, the Employee Benefits Committee, and the Employee Rights and Responsibilities Committee of the Labor and Employment Law Section of the American Bar Association.  She is a member by invitation of the American Employment Law Council and a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers.  She has lectured and written extensively on a variety of employment topics, and has authored several amicus briefs on behalf of employer groups.

“I am extremely pleased to have the opportunity to join Seyfarth Shaw to contribute to the firm’s ERISA litigation practice,” stated Soubly.  “Seyfarth Shaw is highly regarded and I look forward to enhancing further the high level of counsel offered to clients.”

Seyfarth Shaw has over 625 attorneys located in nine offices throughout the United States including Chicago, New York, Boston, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento as well as Brussels, Belgium.  Seyfarth Shaw provides a broad range of legal services in the areas of labor and employment, employee benefits, litigation and business services.  The firm’s practice reflects virtually every industry and segment of the country’s business and social fabric. Clients include over 200 of the Fortune 500 companies, financial institutions, newspapers and other media, hotels, health care organizations, airlines and railroads. The firm also represents a number of federal, state, and local governmental and educational entities.  For more information, please visit www.seyfarth.com.

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