Downtown St. Louis

FordHarrison has opened a five-lawyer office in St. Louis giving the labor and employment firm its 29th U.S. location, including three affiliates.

Corey Franklin is the managing partner for the St. Louis office, leading a team of lawyers who made the move from Jackson Lewis on Nov. 2. Partners Heidi Eckert and Karen Milner joined with associates Matthew Banocy and Jamie Westbrook.

“We are thrilled to have Corey and his team join the firm,” said FordHarrison's managing partner, Al McKenna. “This group of attorneys has a certain level of cohesion that can only be achieved through working together for so many years. They are an invaluable addition.”

The St. Louis location adds to FordHarrison's geographic footprint in the Midwest. The Atlanta-based firm has almost 200 lawyers in the U.S., concentrated along the Eastern Seaboard and the Midwest with two California locations. It is a member of global employment law firm alliance, Ius Laboris, to serve multinational clients in more than 50 countries.

“FordHarrison's culture really sold us on making the move. I look forward to everything we are going to be able to accomplish with the firm,” Franklin said.

Franklin spends a lot of his time advising management-side clients on labor relations issues for both union and nonunion employees. That includes collective bargaining negotiations, responding to union organizing campaigns and administrative proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board. He also litigates employment law matters. His clients are a mix of businesses and public entities such as municipalities.

Eckert is an experienced employment litigator, also handling arbitrations and mediations. She represents clients in a variety of matters, including discrimination, harassment, retaliation and civil rights claims.

Milner advises clients on day-to-day employment law issues, such as wage-and-hour compliance, workplace health and safety, affirmative action planning and business immigration law. She also works with management to develop litigation avoidance strategies and to defend against employee litigation.