Frederick N. "Rick" Sager, Jr.

Lavern was named FordHarrison's first Talent and Recruiting Partner in 2018. In this new role, Lavern is responsible for recruiting and developing lawyers firm-wide. She will oversee the hiring and on-boarding of new lawyers, manage utilization and workflow, and design and implement talent development initiatives to support the career growth of our lawyers. Lavern concentrates her practice on defending employers in discrimination, harassment, wage and hour, whistle-blower, retaliation, employ...

Wayne Melnick is a Partner and Vice-Chair of the firm’s Government Law practice section. He also is a member of the firm’s Tort and Catastrophic Loss practice section where he is Vice-Chair of FMG’s Transportation practice team. Mr. Melnick is an accomplished trial attorney and has tried over 50 jury trials to verdict in cases throughout the country. For every year since 2013, Mr. Melnick has been named a "Georgia Super Lawyer" in the areas of civil law defense and prior to ...

James F. Butler III is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Construction Law and Litigation - Construction. James F., who practices law in Atlanta, Georgia, has been recognized since 2006. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which James F. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Mr. Teske is the head of the Technology, Privacy & IP Transactions Group, and a thought leader and frequent speaker on legal issues ranging from licensing to digital entertainment to open source software. He concentrates his practice on the exploitation, leveraging and transfer of technology and intellectual property rights through complex transfer and licensing transactions. Mr. Teske works with all types of clients, from Fortune 50 corporations to start-up companies. He has extensive ex...

Dana Maine is a founding attorney of FMG and is a member of the Firm's Executive Committee. Her practice focuses on professional liability defense and governmental litigation. Ms. Maine heads the firm's Professional Liability National Practice Section, including Lawyer's (LPL) and Miscellaneous Professional Liability (MPL) practice groups. She has defended attorneys, insurance agents, real estate agents, teachers, corporate officers, and other professionals. She is a member of the Board of Di...

Harry Z. Rippeon III is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Construction Law and Litigation - Construction. Harry Z., who practices law in Atlanta, Georgia, has been recognized since 2022. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Harry Z. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Rob Stone is a partner in Alston & Bird’s Health Care Group, whose practice focuses on health care compliance and regulatory matters, primarily counseling national health care systems, academic medical centers, physician groups and other health care providers. His skills include assisting with the broad range of federal and state fraud and abuse issues, from compliance program development and review to internal and government investigations. He has extensive experience preparing, ne...

Lesly is an experienced public finance attorney, focusing on municipal bonds, real estate and project finance, structured finance, and economic development incentives.

Michael Elkon is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Litigation - Labor and Employment. Michael, who practices law in Atlanta, Georgia, has been recognized since 2023. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Michael is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Kevin has been practicing labor and employment law since 1982. He represents employers throughout the country in a wide variety of labor and employment law matters. Such representation involves employment-related litigation in federal and state courts, including class actions and franchise and independent contractor litigation. In addition, he handles affirmative action planning and compliance, including extensive involvement with “glass ceiling” issues and Office of Federal Contr...