Mr. Pennington is the Managing Shareholder and a founding member of the Birmingham Office of Ogletree Deakins. For more than two decades, he has represented employers in a wide range of labor and employment law matters, including administrative agency charges, federal and state court litigation, union campaigns and collective bargaining.
Mr. Pennington strives to help employers achieve peaceful, productive workplaces. He helps employers avoid workplace disputes by providing management training and developing defensive documentation such as effective employee handbooks, dispute avoidance and resolution policies, and drug and alcohol testing policies and procedures. He is well known for helping employers navigate through the difficult intersections of disabilities and leave laws.
Mr. Pennington’s litigation experience includes matters such as employment discrimination, disabilities, wage and hour disputes, FMLA, restrictive covenants and trade secrets, labor strikes, executive compensation, employee benefits, first amendment and due process and other constitutional issues. He has also arbitrated many discipline and labor contract arbitration matters before labor arbitrators. A founder of the firm’s Higher Education Practice Group, Mr. Pennington has extensive experience representing colleges and universities in matters related to labor, employment, academic policies and student discipline.
Mr. Pennington was awarded the Acritas Star award. Clients that nominated him for the award had the following comments about him:
He is the managing partner of the Birmingham office of Ogletree Deakins and has been exceptionally proactive in helping us develop programs to avoid litigation.
He puts the client first in terms of developing business relationships that transcend straight legal work and in terms of developing programs that have long-term benefits for the company. He thinks proactively instead of simply reactively to a new matter of litigation or a new problem.
More Legal and Business Bylines From James C. Pennington
- 2024 Title IX Regulation Update, Part III: Section 106.44—Recipients’ Duty to Address Sex Discrimination - (Posted On Wednesday, May 01, 2024)
- U.S. Department of Education Delays Release of Title IX Final Rules to October 2023 - (Posted On Friday, June 02, 2023)
- NLRB Judge’s Decision Tees Up Reconsideration of Test for Religious Exemption - (Posted On Monday, March 06, 2023)
- Eleventh Circuit Rules Forensic Photography Intern is Not Entitled to FLSA Wages - (Posted On Tuesday, June 21, 2022)
- Preparing to Comply With the NCAA’s New Sexual Violence Policy - (Posted On Wednesday, May 12, 2021)
- Title IX Homework for Spring Break: Preparing for a Potential Uptick in Title IX Reports - (Posted On Wednesday, April 07, 2021)
- NLRB Disentangles Itself From Religious Education Institutions - (Posted On Monday, June 15, 2020)
- Bankruptcy and Benefits Beyond a Crisis: How Chapters 11 and 7 Affect Retirement and Welfare Plans - (Posted On Monday, May 11, 2020)
- Alabama COVID-19 Update: Governor Ivey Issues Relaxed Safer At Home Order; Birmingham Ordinance Requires Face Masks - (Posted On Thursday, April 30, 2020)