September 14, 2005, Washington, D.C. -LAWFUEL – The Law News Network – Steptoe & Johnson, LLP, today announced that Paul F. Mickey, Jr., has joined its Washington, D.C., office as a partner in the employment law group, effective September 19.
Mr. Mickey was formerly a partner at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, Washington, D.C. He served as managing partner of Shaw Pittman from 1995 to 2003.
“We are pleased to welcome an attorney of Paul’s stature and talents to the firm,” said Roger Warin, Steptoe’s Chairman. “He has a long and outstanding record of professional accomplishments and is well known and widely respected as one of the top lawyers in this region. In some ways, this is a homecoming for Paul. His father, Paul Sr., was one of our esteemed colleagues for many years, and served as Chairman of Steptoe in the 1970s, prior to his retirement in 1980.”
A summa cum laude graduate of Princeton University (1971) and of the University of Virginia Law School (1974), Mr. Mickey joined Shaw Pittman in 1985 after serving as Executive Vice President– General Counsel for Amtrak for six years. He founded Shaw Pittman’s employment practice, building it to some 15 lawyers, and was also involved in complex railroad matters and commercial arbitration.
“I thoroughly enjoyed my two decades at Shaw Pittman and I’m proud of all the firm has accomplished,” Mr. Mickey said. “However, it’s now time for a change and a new challenge. I’m excited to be joining one of the finest firms I know and to be working with many good friends. Steptoe has a highly respected employment and labor practice and presents an ideal platform for my focus on complex workplace issues.”
Mr. Mickey will focus on building Steptoe’s employment practice in the mid-Atlantic region. Drawing on his experience as a corporate executive and CEO of a major law firm, he will counsel corporations and nonprofit organizations on matters of unjust dismissal, discrimination, and tort and contract claims; handling internal investigations; assisting with challenging issues under the ADA, particularly those involving psychological disabilities; dealing with claims involving law firms; training executives and managers; and counseling organizations through challenging workforce transitions, from reductions-in-force to executive-level departures and reorganizations. His practice will involve a range of industries, including technology, transportation, real estate, financial services, publishing, and nonprofit organizations.
He has previously served as Chair of the D.C. Bar’s Committee on Individual Employment Rights and has handled several leading employment cases, including the first wrongful discharge case in Washington, D.C. He has also argued successfully before the U.S. Supreme Court, authored numerous briefs in that tribunal, and was counsel to the defendant in Harris v. Forklift Systems, the U.S. Supreme Court’s first ruling on environmental sexual harassment.
Mr. Mickey regularly serves as an arbitrator or mediator in contract, commercial, workplace, and environmental matters, in both neutral and party-appointed capacities. He is a member of the Panels of Distinguished Neutrals maintained by the CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution and is on the panel of neutrals of the American Arbitration Association.
Mr. Mickey’s contributions with respect to the use of technology, marketing, and strategic planning have been recognized through his election to the College of Law Practice Management and his appointment to the Legal Advisory Board of Martindale-Hubbell/Lexis-Nexis. He is a former chair of the International Bar Association’s subcommittee on information technology, and he serves on the Board of Editors of the Corporate Counselor Newsletter and writes a regular column on employment law for the Washington Business Journal.
