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Earlier this month, the former vice president of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Steward had announced his resignation following differences over mistreatment of a lawyer he recruited at the firm. As head of the firm’s diversity committee in 2006 and 2007, he played a key role in recruiting talented minority lawyers for Ogletree Deakins.
At the time Don Prophete had said he would be joining a competing law firm with a team of lawyers.
However, Kim Ebert, the managing shareholder of Ogletree Deakins had asserted in response to Don Prophete’s claims, “Quite to the contrary, we have received reassuring and supportive communications from a variety of our lawyers – as well as credible information that, in fact, Don’s overtures have been directly rebuffed.”
On Tuesday, Littler Mendelson, the world’s largest employment and labor law firm representing management, announced that Don Prophete was joining the law firm’s Kansas office as a shareholder, along with six other shareholders from across multiple Ogletree Deakins’ offices.
Besides Don Prophete, the other shareholders leaving Ogletree Deakins and joining Littler Mendelson are as follows: Damon Hart in Boston, Irene Gallagher in Denver, Nikki Hininger Howell in Kansas City, Anjanetta Cabrera in New York, and Robert Ortbals, Jr. in St. Louis.
Prophete was a founding member of the Kansas City office of Ogletree Deakins and served two three-year board terms. He was on the five-member board of directors that piloted the business decisions of Ogletree Deakins.
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Daniel Boatright, the office managing shareholder of Littler Mendelson at the Kansas City office said, “The labor and employment market for talent is extremely competitive and we are thrilled to have such an impressive group of attorneys join the firm led by one of the country’s top labor and employment lawyers, Don Prophete … The Kansas City market is growing along with Littler and adding an attorney of Don’s stellar reputation supported by a solid team adds bench strength to our already solid market position.”
