practice areas

Taylor English’s Construction Practice Group focuses on avoiding and solving problems in the most practical and efficient manner. Our Construction Practice Group originated from some of the Nation’s most well-known construction law firms to create a formidable team that is taken seriously within the industry and by adversaries alike.

Practice Area Attorneys
and Professionals

We have a seasoned group of corporate, finance and tax lawyers, most of whom have been partners in large national or regional law firms, and several have served as general counsel of significant public or private companies.

Practice Area Attorneys
and Professionals

The members of our practice group are seasoned professionals who are committed to providing our clients with effective representation on a cost efficient basis. Paul Durdaller is the practice group leader of the Bankruptcy and Creditors’ Rights practice group at Taylor English Duma LLP.

Practice Area Attorneys
and Professionals

Taylor English’s Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Practice Group handles the complete range of employee benefits and executive compensation matters.

Practice Area Attorneys
and Professionals

We understand that the employer-employee dynamic is central to the success of a business. Taylor English’s Employment, Labor & Immigration Group represents management in all aspects of the employment relationship, from training to counseling, from internal complaints to full-blown litigation.

Practice Area Attorneys
and Professionals

Taylor English’s Environmental and Renewable Energy Practice Group’s lawyers have over seventy years of collective experience in the field of environmental and renewable energy law.

Practice Area Attorneys
and Professionals

We have created the Financial Institutions team at Taylor English Duma LLP – bringing together attorneys from different specialties across the Firm – in order to seamlessly deliver to financial institutions the types of services that are most needed in this difficult economy.

Practice Area Attorneys
and Professionals

The members of Taylor English’s Intellectual Property group advise businesses, inventors and entrepreneurs regarding the development, protection and exploitation of intellectual property assets.

Practice Area Attorneys
and Professionals

The Lending, Workout & Foreclosure practice group at Taylor English represents national, regional, local and community banks and lending institutions in all manner of actions related to troubled loans. Our team brings legal and business experience gained from years working on workout and restructuring transactions at top national firms and as in-house counsels at some of the country’s largest corporations.

Practice Area Attorneys
and Professionals

The Litigation & Dispute Resolution practice group at Taylor English is comprised of experienced attorneys who provide creative, efficient and cost-effective advocacy for our clients.

Practice Area Attorneys
and Professionals

The Real Estate, Lending and Finance group at Taylor English has extensive experience in all types of transactions involving commercial, industrial, residential and multi-family real estate.

Practice Area Attorneys
and Professionals

The Resort, Hotel & Hospitality Group of Taylor English is nationally known for its representation of clients involved in the resort, hotel, restaurant, regulated real estate, travel and hospitality industry. The group consists of experienced attorneys from several distinct practice areas who provide creative, cost-effective advocacy to clients.

Practice Area Attorneys
and Professionals

Taylor English provides tax planning, credit and controversy legal services to our clients. Using our value focused approach, our tax attorneys work directly with clients and our other attorneys to ensure appropriate attention is given to the opportunities and consequences of all manners of federal, state and local taxes.

Practice Area Attorneys
and Professionals

Taylor English represents clients with the development and use of technology and e-commerce in their business. Many issues and opportunities arise for businesses involving technology, whether with the development and distribution of technology solutions, the licensing and use of technology products, or the procurement or outsourcing of IT services.

Practice Area Attorneys
and Professionals

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about the firm

Taylor English is a full-service law firm composed of the region's most experienced, results-driven lawyers. Our model is purpose built around our clients and designed to seek new opportunities for them.

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Mickey Ross is a member of the firm’s Litigation and Dispute Resolution group. He is a seasoned business litigator with more than thirty five years of experience in federal and state trial and appellate courts and arbitration proceedings across the country, including a number of class and collective actions. Mr. Ross has successfully represented both individuals and companies in a wide variety of cases, often on the cutting edge of the law, including involving contractual and partnership disputes, business torts, trade secrets and other intellectual property, fiduciary duties, antitrust, healthcare, insurance coverage, property assessments and covenants, administrative agencies, and constitutional rights.

Selected Representations

  • Argued decision of first impression in the Eleventh Circuit as to whether a pre-litigation contractual waiver of a jury trial may be enforced by a federal court sitting in diversity jurisdiction even if invalid under the law of the forum state.
  • Successfully represented creditors in seeking to enforce guaranties in excess of $5 million.
  • Defeated class certification by current and former students at national for-profit university who alleged various state law tort claims.
  • Successfully defended national search firm for loss control personnel and its CEO against claims for defamation and other state law torts arising out of an allegedly negative reference to a a prospective employer.
  • Successfully defended large public school system in alleged class action brought by the ACLU that raised federal and state constitutional and statutory claims with respect to the adequacy of education, procedures for assigning and disciplining students, and search practices of an alternative school for disruptive and low performing students.
  • Defeated a putative class action in California by agents of national financial services company by successfully moving to compel individual arbitrations in Georgia.
  • Won a jury trial in Rome, Georgia of a potentially $50 million case in which plaintiffs alleged that their plant was closed because of the age of the workforce in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.
  • Defeated on summary judgment a wrongful discharge suit brought by a former company president that provides a benchmark for drafting and enforcing employment agreements in Georgia.
  • Recovered in arbitration over $2 million in additional severance benefits for a senior executive who was let go by his company after it was acquired.
  • Defeated on motion in Montgomery, Alabama the first class action brought under the federal Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act.
  • Favorably resolved in Chattanooga one of the largest collective actions ever litigated under the Fair Labor Standards Act in which plaintiffs alleged that managers and assistant managers of national restaurant chain were misclassified as exempt and nonexempt crew members worked off the clock.
  • Handled in the Eleventh Circuit the first reported appellate case to consider the ”organizational unit” and ”job classification” information that must be provided under the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act to have a valid release of age discrimination claims.
  • Served as non-neutral party appointed arbitrator for national financial services company in winning over a dozen arbitrations with current and former agents.

Presentations & Speaking Engagements

  • Author and speaker, “Case Studies of Clinical Integration Models: Hits, Misses & Consequences,” Greenbranch Publishing Audio Conference, February 2009
  • Author and speaker, “Recent Ethics Developments,” Employment Law & Litigation Group, ORC Worldwide, October 2008
  • Author and speaker, “Recent Developments: Restrictive Covenants, Agreements to Arbitrate, and Releases,” The Seminar Group, October 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009
  • Author and speaker, “Issues and Strategies Every Seasoned Employment Practitioner Needs to Know: Cat’s Paw, Mixed Motive and Offers of Judgment,” Labor & Employment Section of the Atlanta Bar Association, March 2005
  • Author and speaker, “Taking Off the Gloves: Contacting Employee Witnesses – An Ethical Discussion,” Labor & Employment Section of the Atlanta Bar Association, March 2004

Publications & Articles

  • “Compensability of Travel Time Under the FLSA,” Labor & Employment Section of the Atlanta Bar Association Newsletter, Summer 2007 (co-author)
  • “Butterflies and Group Goodbyes: Are Your ADEA Releases in RIFs Enforceable After Smith?,” The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, July 2005 (co-author)
  • “Antitrust, Eleventh Circuit Annual Survey,” 51 Mercer L. Rev. 1035 (2000) (co-author)
  • “Antitrust, Eleventh Circuit Annual Survey,” 50 Mercer L. Rev. 859 (1999) (co-author)
  • “Antitrust, Eleventh Circuit Annual Survey,” 49 Mercer L. Rev. 967 (1998) (co-author)
  • “Whose Field of Dreams: Antitrust Relief Against Restrictions On the Sale or Relocation of Major League Baseball Teams,” 42 Antitrust Bull. 521 (1997) (co-author)
  • “Antitrust, Eleventh Circuit Annual Survey,” 48 Mercer L. Rev. 1389 (1997) (co-author)
  • “Antitrust, Eleventh Circuit Annual Survey,” 46 Mercer L. Rev. 1237 (1995) (co-author)
  • “Antitrust, Eleventh Circuit Annual Survey,” 44 Mercer L. Rev. 1047 (1993)
  • “Antitrust, Eleventh Circuit Annual Survey,” 42 Mercer L. Rev. 1239 (1991)
  • “Antitrust, Eleventh Circuit Annual Survey,” 41 Mercer L. Rev. 1217 (1990)
  • “Antitrust, Eleventh Circuit Annual Survey,” 40 Mercer L. Rev. 1141 (1989)
  • “Antitrust, Eleventh Circuit Annual Survey,” 38 Mercer L. Rev. 1053 (1987)
  • “Antitrust, Eleventh Circuit Annual Survey,” 37 Mercer L. Rev. 1197 (1986)
  • “Antitrust, Eleventh Circuit Annual Survey,” 36 Mercer L. Rev. 1101 (1985)
  • “Antitrust, Eleventh Circuit Annual Survey,” 35 Mercer L. Rev. 1091 (1984)
  • “Antitrust, Eleventh Circuit Annual Survey,” 34 Mercer L. Rev. 1191 (1983)
  • “Recognizing the Reliance Interest in Awarding Damages Under Section 4 of the Clayton Act: Of Mitigation and Prospectivity,” 12 Ga. L. Rev. 193 (1978)
  • “Developing An Effective Antitrust Compliance Program,” 15 Ga. B.J. 87 (1978)
  • “Territorial and Customer Restrictions On Distributing Agents or Consignees: The Nature of ‘Title, Dominion and Risk of Loss,’” 13 Ga. B.J. 39 (1976)
  • “Of Bicycles and Beer: Vertical Territorial and Customer Restrictions from Schwinn to Coors,” 26 Mercer L. Rev. 507 (1975) (co-author)
  • “The Single Product Issue in Antitrust Tying: A Functional Approach,” 23 Emory L.J. 963 (1974)

Accolades

  • Ranked AV Preeminent 5.0 out of 5* (registered certification mark of Reed Elsevier Properties, Inc. used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards, and policies)
  • Listed, Best Lawyers in America
  • Selected by Atlanta magazine and Law & Politics as a “Georgia Super Lawyer”
  • Selected by Corporate Counsel as among the “Best Lawyers in America”
  • Selected by Chambers USA as a “Leading Georgia Lawyer”
  • Selected by Incisive Media as among “Georgia’s Best Lawyers”
  • Among highest student evaluations for an Adjunct Professor in the Litigation Program at Georgia State University College Law
  • Rhodes Scholar nominee from the State of Florida

We deliver superior service through...

1. Purpose-Built Efficiency

Everything we do is focused on greater efficiency, flexibility and entrepreneurship. The result is that our clients view us as part of their business building investment, not a corporate expense.

2. Purpose-Built Partnerships

We are partners, not vendors. The result is that we are accountable, respectful and care as much about our clients' business as we do our own.

3. Purpose-Built Results

We are problem solvers. We are constantly looking for new and innovative ways to provide value and results and seek flexibility in how we structure engagements.