Morgan & Morgan is the busiest plaintiffs law firm and Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart is the most active on the defense side in employment litigation in Florida, Georgia and Texas, a new report found.

The Orlando-based firm was the most active in the region, with nearly 700 cases filed in Florida, Georgia and Mississippi from 2016 to 2018, according to the Employment Litigation in the Southwest Report by Lex Machina, a legal analytics company.

Florida is home to the top five plaintiffs firms: Orlando-based Morgan & Morgan, Remer & Georges-Pierre in Miami, Marie A Mattox P.A. in Tallahassee, Wenzel Fenton Cabassa in Tampa and Richard Celler Legal in Davie.

Barrett & Farahany was busiest in Georgia with 291 cases. In Texas, The Buenker Law Firm had the most cases at 179.

On the defense side, Ogletree Deakins was most active, appearing in 1,000 cases to outpace all other firms.

“Defendants’ law firms generally saw discrimination and retaliation claims most often,” the report said. Other top defense firms included Littler Mendelson, Jackson Lewis, Fisher & Phillips and FordHarrison.

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Busy Courts

The Lex Machina report contains a large amount of data about the volume of federal employment litigation in Southeastern states, case outcomes, damage awards, top firms by practice area and the companies sued most frequently.

The data could offer federal employment litigators answers to strategy questions like what damages to seek, the chances of winning a trial or the prudence of settling a case.

“At the end of the day, I think legal analytics answers more strategy questions,” said Rachel Bailey, a legal data expert at Lex Machina.

The report analyzed federal employment litigation in federal district courts in Texas, Georgia, Florida and other states covered by the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Fifth and Eleventh circuits. The types of cases included discrimination, harassment or retaliation claims under civil rights laws, wage and hour claims and retaliation claims under the Family and Medical Leave Act.

Since 2009, 68,000 cases were filed in the region, which represents one third of the more than 218,000 employment cases across the nation. Each year for the past 10 years, more than 6,000 cases filed in the region.

Among 19,677 cases filed from 2016 to 2018, 75% likely settled, 10% represented defense wins, 3% represented plaintiff’s wins and 12% ended in for procedural reasons.

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Attorney fees

The Southern District of Florida was the busiest, and 75% of its cases included Fair Labor Standards Act claims. The next busiest courts were in the Middle District of Florida, Southern District of Texas and Northern District of Georgia.

Typically, about 200 to 300 cases awarded damages each year. District courts in Florida and Texas generally awarded the most damages in collective action settlements from 2016 to 2018.

“Courts in Florida and Texas awarded the most attorneys’ fees and costs, both awarding about $6 million each,” the report said.

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Employers Win

The companies that fielded employment lawsuits most often were Walmart Stores Inc. and Walmart Stores East; U.S. Postal Service; Sandbox Transportation, a logistics company; and United Parcel Service Inc., said the report.

“Case resolutions and findings overwhelmingly favor employers with a large number of decisions made at the summary judgment state,” according to the report.

The most common reasons for summary judgment were that judges found no retaliation, no race or color discrimination, no hostile work environment or harassment, or granted the defendants a legitimate reason defense.

“Despite the fact that people may be suing for these types of things, at the end of the day for defendants’ firms, the employers are winning,” Bailey said. “This is unique in this practice area, these massive amounts of employer wins.”

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Most active plaintiffs firms

  • Morgan & Morgan – 686 cases
  • Remer & Georges-Pierre – 453 cases
  • Marie A Mattox P.A. – 388 cases
  • Wenzel Fenton Cabassa – 350 cases
  • Richard Celler Legal – 350 cases |

    Most active defense firms

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    • Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart – 1,082 cases
    • Littler Mendelson – 1,002 cases
    • Jackson Lewis – 867 cases
    • Fisher & Phillips – 521 cases
    • FordHarrison – 421 cases
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Read the report:

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