Profile
Taylor English offers experienced, first-class lawyers at cost-effective rates in a truly collegial environment.
Mickey Ross is a member of Taylor English’s Employment and Labor Relations Department, as well as its Litigation and Dispute Resolution Department. He is a seasoned employment and business litigator with more than 40 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. For example, he has:
- 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;
- Successfully defended wage and hour collective/class actions brought by, among others, restaurant managers and employees, mortgage brokers, parking lot attendants, and insurance investigators;
- Successfully defended the first class action under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act;
- Defeated a putative class action in California by agents of a national financial services company by successfully moving to compel individual arbitrations in Georgia;
- Successfully represented public and private creditors in seeking to enforce promissory notes and guaranties in excess of $10 million;
- Defeated class certification by current and former students at a national for-profit university who alleged various state law tort claims; and
- Recovered in arbitration more than $2 million in additional severance benefits for a senior executive who was let go by his company after it was acquired.
Before joining Taylor English, Mr. Ross practiced with one of the world's most prestigious corporate law firms for nearly 34 years, including 28 years as a partner, and with an international, full-service firm for more than two years as a shareholder.
Memberships
State Bar of Georgia
American Bar Association
Community Involvement
Jewish Family & Career Services, Board of Directors, 2008-2009; Personnel Committee, 2007-2017
Practice Highlights
Experience
Represented Gresham Transportation Services, LLC (GTS), a small Atlanta business and certified Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE), in an arbitration for breach of contract against the large national company which partnered with GTS to win a major public transit contract. The Arbitrator found in favor of GTS on its claims and respondent’s counterclaims and awarded GTS damages, attorneys’ fees, and forgiveness of debt totaling more than $825,000.
Successfully resolved hybrid wage and hour collective/class action brought by managers of national coffee store company who alleged that they were misclassified as exempt.
Recovered in arbitration more than $2 million in additional severance benefits for a senior executive who was let go by his company after it was acquired.
Represented the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, as Receiver for Silverton Bank (FDIC-R), in three separate federal court actions against borrowers and guarantors who defaulted on loans made by Silverton Bank, which failed in 2009. In each of the three cases, summary judgment was granted to the FDIC-R on its claims for breach of contract, interest, and attorneys’ fees in the aggregate amount of more than $10 million. The rulings in these lawsuits confirm ...
Obtained jury verdict for Fortune 200 company in 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.
Successfully defended the first class action under the WARN Act.
Defeated a putative class action in California by agents of national financial services company by successfully moving to compel individual arbitrations in Georgia.
Defeated class certification by current and former students at national for-profit university who alleged various state law tort claims.
Successfully resolved putative collective action by managers and assistant managers of national fast food restaurant chain who alleged that they were misclassified as exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Represented Atlanta Public Schools in favorably resolving a 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 at alternative high school.
Won jury verdict for large privately held company in dispute over the terms and conditions of the lease for its corporate headquarters.
Represented the plaintiff to a satisfactory resolution in companion litigation in Georgia and Colorado to enforce restrictive covenants and obtain protection against the misappropriation of trade secrets.
Newsroom
Speaking Engagements
- "Employment Contracts: Arbitration Agreements, Restrictive Covenants and More," Labor & Employment Law ConferenceOctober 5, 2014
- "Recent Developments: Restrictive Covenants, Agreements to Arbitrate, and Releases," Labor & Employment Law ConferenceOctober 2005-2013
- "Case Studies of Clinical Integration Models: Hits, Misses & Consequences," Greenbranch Publishing Audio ConferenceFebruary 2009
- "Recent Ethics Developments," Employment Law & Litigation Group, ORC WorldwideOctober 2008
- "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 AssociationMarch 2005
- "Taking Off the Gloves: Contacting Employee Witnesses – An Ethical Discussion," Labor & Employment Section of the Atlanta Bar AssociationMarch 2004
Publications
- Co-author. "Compensability of Travel Time Under the FLSA," Labor & Employment Section of the Atlanta Bar Association NewsletterSummer 2007
- Co-author. "Butterflies and Group Goodbyes: Are Your ADEA Releases in RIFs Enforceable After Smith?" Metropolitan Corporate CounselJuly 2005
- Co-author. "Whose Field of Dreams: Antitrust Relief Against Restrictions On the Sale or Relocation of Major League Baseball Teams," 42 Antitrust Bulletin 521 (1997)
- "Antitrust, Eleventh Circuit Annual Survey," Mercer Law Review (1983-1987, 1989-1991, 1993-1995)
- "Developing An Effective Antitrust Compliance Program," 15 Ga. B.J. 87 (1978)
- "Recognizing the Reliance Interest in Awarding Damages Under Section 4 of the Clayton Act: Of Mitigation and Prospectivity," 12 Georgia Law Review 193 (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)
- Co-author. "Of Bicycles and Beer: Vertical Territorial and Customer Restrictions from Schwinn to Coors," 26 Mercer Law Review 507 (1975)
- "The Single Product Issue in Antitrust Tying: A Functional Approach," 23 Emory Law Journal 963 (1974)
Headlines
- March 4, 2020
- September 22, 2017
- September 13, 2017
- December 16, 2016
- December 16, 2016
- December 16, 2016
- December 16, 2016
- August 17, 2016
- August 17, 2016
News Releases
- December 3, 2020
- August 20, 2020
- February 24, 2020
- August 15, 2019
- February 20, 2019
- August 15, 2018
- February 22, 2018
- February 23, 2017
- December 15, 2016
- December 13, 2016
- August 15, 2016
- February 19, 2016
- August 17, 2015
- February 20, 2015
- August 18, 2014
- February 21, 2013
- August 24, 2012
- February 28, 2012
- September 7, 2011
- August 23, 2010
- May 12, 2010
Services
- Employment
- Litigation and Dispute Resolution
- Antitrust
- Arbitration and Mediation
- Business Torts and Commercial Contract Disputes
- Class and Collective Action
- Defamation Claims
- Educational Institutions and Youth-Serving Organizations
- Entertainment, Sports & Media Litigation
- Securities Litigation and RICO Act Claims
- Shareholder Derivatives Suits, Director and Officer Liability, and Corporate Governance
Education
Harvard Law School, JD, magna cum laude, 1974
University of Florida, AB, Valedictorian, 1971
Bar Admissions
Georgia
Courts & Adjudicative Bodies
All Georgia State Courts
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia
U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit
Accolades
Martindale-Hubbell AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated
Best Lawyers in America® 2007–2021
Best Lawyers in America®, Lawyer of the Year 2016
Georgia Super Lawyers, 2004–2020
Chambers USA: Leading Business Lawyers - Employment 2009-2012
Among highest student evaluations for an Adjunct Professor in the Litigation Program at Georgia State University College of Law
Rhodes Scholar nominee from the State of Florida
Invited to join Harvard Law Review
Georgia Trend's Legal Elite, General Practice / Trial Law, 2016 and 2020