SAN FRANCISCO, CA (February 5, 2014) – Five attorneys from Littler, the world’s largest employment and labor law practice representing management, have been named “Client Service All-Stars” by The BTI Consulting Group in its new report, the BTI Client Service All-Stars 2014. Attorneys included in this elite list—identified solely through unprompted client feedback—are recognized as delivering the absolute best in client service. The 2014 analysis marks the 7th appearance of Littler attorneys on the list.

The lawyers recognized from Littler are Jason Branciforte (Washington, D.C.), Margaret Hart Edwards (San Francisco, CA), Dominic Messiha (Los Angeles, CA), Douglas A. Wickham (Los Angeles, CA) and John Ybarra (Chicago, IL).

“We are proud that once again, Littler shareholders are included among this prestigious group of attorneys,” said Thomas Bender and Jeremy Roth, co-managing directors of the firm, in a joint statement. “Delivering superior client service is Littler’s highest priority, and the fact that this recognition is based on the feedback of our clients is a true honor.”

The analysis for the BTI Client Service All-Stars 2014 drew solely on feedback from corporate counsel and their direct reports at the world’s largest organizations. Law firms and their attorneys had no influence on the rankings. This year, BTI interviewed nearly 300 corporate counsel from large and Fortune 1000 companies.

About Jason Branciforte

Branciforte has litigated on behalf of management in connection with all types of employment and labor disputes, including wrongful discharge and defamation claims. He regularly appears before state and federal courts throughout the United States and before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the National Labor Relations Board and the Department of Labor. Branciforte is a former member of Littler’s Board of Directors and currently serves on the Shareholder Candidate Committee and the firm’s Governance Committee. He has been recognized for his work by Super Lawyers and Chambers USA. Branciforte received his J.D. from Cornell University Law School and his A.B. from Georgetown University cum laude.

About Margaret Hart Edwards

A seasoned litigator in both state and federal courts, Edwards represents employers in a broad variety of employment and labor matters focusing on the defense of wage and hour and discrimination class actions, and whistleblower, discrimination and wrongful discharge claims. She has authored more than three dozen articles on a wide spectrum of employment law subjects, such as workplace bullying, avoiding retaliation claims, family responsibilities discrimination and the role of remarks in discrimination cases, as well as preventing workplace violence, discrimination against individuals with mental disabilities and preventing sexual harassment. Edwards has received widespread recognition for her career achievements by a number of publications and organizations, including Super Lawyers, The Best Lawyers in America, Who’s Who Legal and the Continuing Education of the Bar – California, among others. She received her J.D. from Northwestern University cum laude and her B.A. from the University of Chicago magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa.

About Dominic Messiha

Messiha represents employers in a range of employment law areas, primarily defending wage and hour class actions brought under California law. He also defends single-plaintiff employment cases in the areas of discrimination, harassment and retaliation, among others. Messiha practices in state and federal courts as well as in administrative forums. A Loyola Scholar, he was on the Dean’s List at the Loyola Law School Los Angeles and a recipient of the Bancroft-Whitney American Jurisprudence Award in Trial Advocacy. Messiha received his J.D. from the Loyola Law School Los Angeles and his B.A. from the University of California Los Angeles.

About Douglas A. Wickham

Wickham has 27 years of trial, appellate, arbitration and complex litigation experience in the full range of employment and labor matters, with a practice focusing on class action litigation, representative actions, private attorney general matters and hotly contested employment cases and actions involving trade secret misappropriation, unfair competition and restrictive covenants. Prior to joining Littler, among other things, he served as an Assistant United States Attorney in Washington, D.C., representing federal governmental clients in civil litigation, trial and appellate matters, and he served on a prestigious clerkship to the Hon. Frank X. Altimari of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Wickham is active in a number of professional organizations, including the State Bar of California, the Los Angeles County Bar Association, the American Bar Association and the International Bar Association. He received his J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center cum laude and his B.A. from the University of California at Los Angeles.

About John Ybarra

Regarded as one of the nation’s most prolific and successful attorneys in the litigation of Fair Labor Standards Act collective actions, Ybarra advises and represents clients in employment and labor relations, with particular emphasis on wage and hour and compensation disputes. He frequently speaks and conducts training programs for all levels of management on such topics as reductions-in-force, employment liability releases and discrimination prevention, as well as compliance, sexual and racial harassment and wage and hour policies and practices. He received his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School and B.A. from DePaul University.

About The BTI Consulting Group, Inc.

The BTI Consulting Group (BTI) is the leading provider of strategic market research to law firms and professional services firms. BTI conducts the only continuous benchmarking market study in the legal services industry based on more than 3,100 independent interviews with General Counsel and key decision makers that hire law firms. BTI regularly publishes this compelling research in independent publications, reports and summaries.

About Littler

Littler is the largest global employment and labor law practice with more than 1,000 attorneys in over 60 offices worldwide. Littler represents management in all aspects of employment and labor law and serves as a single source solution provider to the global employer community. Consistently recognized in the industry as a leading and innovative law practice, Littler has been litigating, mediating and negotiating some of the most influential employment law cases and labor contracts on record for over 70 years. Littler is the collective trade name for an international legal practice, the practicing entities of which are separate and distinct professional firms.