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MEREDITH HOBBS |mhobbs@alm.com

AMES RADFORD and ReganKeebaugh have started their own plain-iffs’ firm, handling civil rights andmployment cases.

The two met in law school at the Uni-ersity of Georgia, graduating in 2006,hen worked together at Parks Chesin

& Walbert, which handles a lot of plain-iffs’ employment cases.Radford, 33, left Parks Chesin to start

his own firm at the beginning of 2012,nd Keebaugh, 35, joined him earlierhis year. “I let him know that whenever

he was ready, I had an office for him,”Radford said.

Their firm, Radford & Keebaugh, isn Decatur, on the square across fromhe new courthouse.Radford said he’s attracted to civil

ights cases. “I like to talk about free-dom, justice and the American way,”he said. “Regan is more of a numbers

uy. No one can work a spreadsheetike him.”

Keebaugh said about 80 percent ofhis practice at Parks Chesin was rep-esenting public employees who were

wrongfully terminated. He also rep-

resented people who’d experiencedworkplace discrimination.

He said he is continuing to take thosetype cases—and also Fair Labor Stan-dards Act cases, representing employees

in wage and hour suits. In FSLA cases,

he said, it’s relatively clear-cut whethe law has been violated. “You loothe facts and compare them to the l

“What James is good at is takincase with a lot of gray in it and t

pursuing a theory,” Keebaugh said

THURSDAY, JULY 31, 2014

Plaintiffs’ firm opens

in DecaturFORMER COLLEAGUES at Parks Chesin & Walbert set out to handle civil rights, employment case

Regan Keebaugh, left, represents plaintiffs suing employers, while his partner,James Radford, said he likes “to talk about freedom, justice and the American wa

JOHN DISNEY/DAILY R

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drawing on other cases that may notook analogous initially to argue thathe law has been violated.Keebaugh said they are also handling

business disputes, which are billed hour-y fees instead of on contingency.

“For a firm our size, it’s important tohave a good mix of hourly and contin-ency work so we can pay the bills whilehasing after our contingency cases,”

Keebaugh said, adding that about half ofheir cases come from referrals and halfrom Internet marketing.W. Caleb Gross, who’d been working

with Radford, is an associate at the firm.He received his law degree from Geor-

ia State University in 2011. Keith Barrys the firm’s paralegal.Keebaugh said they have not taken

out any loans. “You just have to plan andave money,” he said, adding that the

best business advice he received from mentor attorney was to live modestly.“Even with family obligations,” said

Keebaugh, who like Radford and Grosss married with young children, “we’ve

been able to do what we think is the besthing for us and have fun doing it.”

Keebaugh said Parks Chesin was areat place to learn how to be a lawyer.You get a fair amount of responsibilityt a young age, and they do try cases—aot of firms don’t anymore.”

The first case Keebaugh worked ont Parks Chesin was a complex votingights case involving a school board in

South Carolina, where members werelected at large. Parks Chesin success-ully defended the Lexington County

School District 3 from a suit claim-

ng that at-large voting had dilutedminority votes in violation of the CivilRights Act.

The primary evidence was statis-ical analysis, said Keebaugh, who

has an undergraduate degree in eco-nomics, examining voter turnout and

otes per candidate to try and deter-mine how candidates preferred byminority voters fared.

In another complex case, Keebaugh,long with David Walbert, A. Lee

Parks and Larry Chesin, won $4.8 mil-lion in back pay and interest in a 2011arbitration judgment for 23 FultonCounty judicial staff attorneys. Theysuccessfully argued that, through a1997 program, the lawyers should havereceived pay raises commensurate tothose given to staff attorneys workingfor the County Attorney.

One of the first cases that Radfordtook on after going solo was for anAlpharetta High School student whosued the school after he was removedas student body president for trying tomake the prom more inclusive to gaystudents. The student, Rueben Lack,

proposed holding gender-neutral elec-tions for prom king and queen.That led to a full-day hearing before

U.S. District Judge Richard Story. The judge accepted teachers’ and adminis-trators’ testimony that they removedhim as student body president becauseof a history of negative interactions.Although Story rejected Lack’s suitto be reinstated, he commended Lackfor his desire to make the prom moreinclusive. “I think you had a great idea

in terms of what caused you to want todo this,” he said.

The case drew coverage from localTV stations and newspapers as well asLondon’s Daily Mail. “It was an excitingway to start out,” Radford said. “I tendto take cases I believe in.”

Radford is currently suing GeorgiaState University under the AmericansWith Disabilities Act on behalf of astudent who was subjected to its man-datory risk assessment program after

he disclosed during a routine medicalscreening that he had been diagnosedwith schizophrenia.

Many colleges have instituted threatassessment programs in response to therash of school shootings dating back tothe Columbine shootings in 1999.

The student was kicked out of hisdorm and told he must get regularcounseling, take medication and sub-mit a compliance report to GSU beforehe could return to campus housing,

according to the complaint and GSmotion for summary judgment. Galso tried to have him involuntacommitted at Grady Memorial Hotal. Campus police officers took thedent to Grady but a psychologist thsaid after an evaluation that he didmeet the criteria. The student, whobe a junior in the fall, is living off cpus. The suit, filed in 2013 in U.S. trict Court for the Northern DistriGeorgia, is R.W. v. Board of Regenthe University System of Georgia.

Radford said he’s suing because tis “nothing in any of his records sahe shows a risk of violence or has b

in trouble or has threatened anyoneRadford’s complaint argues thatstudent has been singled out for spetreatment because of the schizophrdiagnosis. GSU’s motion for summ judgment says that GSU’s treatmenthe plaintiff does not violate the Amcans With Disabilities Act. The modoes not cite any threatening wordbehaviors by the student, but it saysGSU psychologist who initially inviewed him “reported behaviors

correspond with possible psychowhich, in turn, increases the likelihthat a person may engage in violeagainst others.” The student toldpsychologist he’d seen and heard thbefore, according to the motion.

GSU’s only defense, Radford saithat if someone is schizophrenic, tpose a risk of violence. “Can a schunambiguously target a student bon mental illness?” he asked.

“There is not a lot of law on this i

right now,” Radford said. “Whateveruling is, it’s going to have a big impa

“This is the type of law I always wed to do,” he added. “Luckily I’ve bable to build a practice doing it.” DR

DAILY REPORT JULY 31, 2014

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