Lead Legal Affairs Team of senior attorneys, legal managers, and legal operations professionals. Lead M&A Transactions. Oversee legal operations, transactional matters, and strategic initiatives. Manage litigation and regulatory matters. Provide counseling across the organization on all matters including wage and hour, worker’s compensation, accommodations, and general employment matters. Hire and manage outside counsel including RFPs and budgeting. Led and implemented launch of contract management system within first six months including streamlining of contract intake, review, and approval workflows. Cross-functional strategic business partner across Sales, Procurement, Clinical, Risk Management, Compliance, Quality and Regulatory Teams. Lead quarterly training on emerging areas of the law for legal department as well as business units. Lead team on strategic initiatives including outsourcing of company-wide distribution. Formed and lead critical steering groups to develop best practices in the areas of AI, Cyber Security and Privacy. Curate and lead professional development training. DEI executive leader and strategic advisor. Founding Board member to the Women in Business Affinity Group. Selected for MV One Leadership Initiative. Formed strategic partnerships with local law schools to launch first ever legal externship program. Strong focus on team culture and climate and driving enterprise leadership. 

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Bill focuses his practice exclusively on labor and employment law representing management. He has served as lead trial counsel in cases in federal and state courts, and has extensive experience as lead counsel in a variety of labor and employment matters, including numerous collective actions, involving wage/hour and overtime litigation, race discrimination, disability discrimination, leave issues and harassment. Much of Bill’s practice involves representing professional sports teams and organizations, theme parks, entertainment venues and organizations, metropolitan transit organizations, staffing companies, manufacturers, healthcare companies, restaurants, and employee leasing companies. Bill also regularly enforces and defends non-compete covenants, litigates trade secret matters, including obtaining injunctions and TROs, and handles employment issues across the country. Bill serves as the Co-Chair of the firm’s Sports and Entertainment Practice Group, coordinating efforts and resources with attorneys across the country to serve clients more effectively and efficiently. Bill has also been a featured speaker at numerous employment and education law-related seminars for managers and organizations throughout Florida and the Southeast.

Bill also enjoys serving the legal and local community.  In 2018, Bill was asked to serve as one of the only out of state members of the Georgia State University College of Law Board of Visitors, and continues to serve in that capacity.  Since 2019, Bill has served on the Advisory Board of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Tampa Bay, serving children in need of medical care throughout the Tampa Bay Area.  Bill currently serves as Legislative Chair for the Board of Suncoast HR Management Association. Bill formerly served as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Polk Theatre in Lakeland, was past Legislative Director for HR Tampa, and is the former Co-Chair of the Labor & Employment Section of the Hillsborough County Bar Association.

Bill is also a past recipient of the CareerSource Polk Workforce Champion Award — presented for improving the quality of workforce services in Central Florida. Bill has also been recognized for multiple workshops he and his team have presented to community business leaders on topics including wage and hour and overtime litigation, race and disability discrimination, leave issues, harassment issues and more.

Before graduating from high school, Bill worked with his father in the family business involving the sales and reconditioning of athletic equipment. After college, Bill worked in human resource management and business operations for approximately five years. During law school he served as a law clerk for the Georgia Supreme Court and Georgia Court of Appeals, and he worked in the labor and employment section of the United States Department of Health and Human Services Regional Office of General Counsel in Atlanta.

Simone Francis effectively spearheads and collaborates with external and internal teams to identify and deliver solutions to clients. As a civil litigator with more than 20 years of experience, Simone has managed the defense of high-stakes lawsuits involving a range of federal, state, and territorial laws. She has argued numerous cases before federal and local trial and appeals courts, acted as lead counsel in several trials, and serves as a member of the Steering Committee of the firm’s Trial Practice Group. Simone also has served as an advocate before the American Arbitration Association and several administrative tribunals, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the New York State Division of Human Rights, and the Virgin Islands Public Employees Relations Board.

Simone provides proactive and practical advice before litigation arises. She has developed customized, interactive training programs to educate supervisory and management personnel about their responsibilities for ensuring compliance with employment laws. In addition, she routinely counsels businesses concerning a range of workplace issues, including managing internal investigations and disciplinary proceedings, evaluating and responding to requests for leave and other accommodations, developing personnel policies, and complying with developing laws and regulatory guidance concerning the use of technology in the workplace.

As co-chair of the firm’s Environmental, Social and Governance Practice Group, and as an active member of the firm’s Diversity and Inclusion Practice Groups, Simone develops and provides guidance to employers in connection with human capital issues included in ESG initiatives, and she routinely advises companies with respect to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, including evaluating programs for hiring and promoting diverse talent, developing and analyzing internal and external communications about DEI programs, surveys and metrics, and assessing and responding to internal complaints and litigation concerning the effectiveness or legality of ESG and DEI initiatives.  A member of the firm’s Technology Practice Group, Simone also routinely counsels employers concerning the complex landscape of legal considerations related to the use of automated decision tools and other technology in the workplace.  Additionally, utilizing the experience and expertise she has developed as a member of the firm’s Workplace Investigations and Organizational Assessments practice group, Simone regularly leads sensitive, high-level investigations and provides guidance and training to employers concerning internal investigations of myriad workplace concerns.

Before joining Ogletree Deakins, Simone practiced with general litigation firms in Washington, D.C. and the Virgin Islands. Utilizing that experience, she continues to represent a diverse group of business clients in complex litigation involving premises liability and products liability claims.

Simone is a frequent speaker on employment law topics, and she has appeared at conferences throughout the United States. As a member of the American Law Institute, Simone has participated in the Members Consultative Group for the Restatement of Employment Law and in the Members Consultative Group for Principles of the Law, Student Sexual Misconduct: Procedural Frameworks for Colleges and Universities. In addition to her role as Office Managing Shareholder of the St. Thomas office, Simone previously served on the firm’s Professional Development Steering Committee and has actively participated as a member of the firmwide Management Committee.

In 2022, Simone was elected as a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, and she has been recognized by Lawdragon as one of the 500 Leading U.S. Corporate Employment Lawyers in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025.

https://ogletree.com/people/simone-r-d-francis/