Member | Stites & Harbison

Shannon M. Sprinkle

Shannon Sprinkle is a Member in the Atlanta office where she handles a wide variety of litigation matters in state and federal courts. Shannon is frequently retained before litigation to help evaluate and control exposure to potential claims and also represents clients before various licensing and review agencies.

Shannon’s primary focus is on professional malpractice, real estate, and finance related claims. She has substantial experience defending legal malpractice claims arising out of litigation, family law, business organization, estate matters, real estate transactions, and commercial transactions. She also frequently defends accounting malpractice claims involving tax preparation, consulting, compilations, reviews, audits, and breach of fiduciary claims.

Shannon also defends law firms, lenders, and other businesses against individual and class-action claims for alleged violations of consumer protection statutes, such as the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Truth in Lending Act, Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, and others. She also provides compliance and risk management advice in these areas, as well as data and privacy breach claims.

Shannon frequently advises clients on internal employment issues, employment contracts, and defends employment-related litigation.

VP, Corporate Responsibility and Labor Affairs | USCIB

Gabrielle Rigg Herzog

Gabriella Rigg Herzog joined the United States Council for International Business (USCIB) in 2017 as Vice President for Corporate Responsibility & Labor Affairs. In this role, she leads USCIB’s policy work and international engagement on responsible business conduct, including corporate responsibility, human rights, labor and employment issues, and corporate governance, and she also co-lead’s USCIB’s sustainability practice. Additionally, Ms. Herzog serves as an industry representative on advisory boards of the U.S. Departments of State, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the International Labor Organization (ILO), and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Before joining USCIB, Ms. Herzog worked for 10+ years advancing trade, development, human rights, and sustainability in the public and private sectors. At Hess Corporation, she served as Senior Manager for Corporate Social Responsibility, where she led the development and integration of key ESG policies into enterprise management systems in collaboration with cross-discipline peers. Prior to Hess, Ms. Herzog served as Policy Advisor at the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, where she led the global CSR policy and program practice, and she also served as an International Program Officer in the U.S. Department of Labor’s International Labor Affairs Bureau (ILAB) where she supported the enforcement of the labor chapters of U.S. Free Trade Agreements and the implementation of labor ministry capacity building programs.

Ms. Herzog earned her BA (cum laude) from Northeastern University, her Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School at Tufts University, and has been a First Mover Fellow” of The Aspen Institute’s Business and Society Program since 2014. The daughter of a Venezuelan immigrant, Ms. Herzog is originally from the San Francisco Bay Area and now lives with her family in the New York City metropolitan area.

Shareholder | Ogletree Deakins

Natalie N. Turner

Natalie’s practice primarily focuses on working with employers in three ways: providing proactive advice and training to employers on workplace policies and procedures to comply with employment related laws; conducting investigations, including at the C-Suite level; and litigating cases on behalf of employers Natalie works with local and national clients to implement policies and practices that comply with applicable local, state and federal law. Additionally, Natalie takes pride in learning about her client’s business and their values so that she can provide advice that makes practical sense for that client’s operations. Natalie also regularly provides training to both rank and file employees and management regarding a wide range of employment related topics, including anti-discrimination/harassment, best practices for investigations, and how to engage in the reasonable accommodation process.

Natalie frequently conducts high level internal investigations for clients focused on complying with the applicable law and identifying any potential areas of risk. Natalie’s emphasis on understanding her client’s business is essential to conducting these investigations in a manner that is both effective and practical.

Natalie has successfully defended employers against allegations of discrimination, sexual harassment, racial harassment, and retaliation in state and federal court. Natalie has also handled numerous charges filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Florida Commission on Human Relations, and the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions.

Natalie is recognized by Best Lawyers® in the Litigation – Labor and Employment category for her work in this area.

Trisha Earls

Trisha Earls

Trisha has served in numerous executive and legal positions in various companies throughout her career, from Fortune 500, international companies to complex, private equity owned and non-profit entities.    She has held roles in a variety of different industries, such as financial services, education and manufacturing.     

Trisha began her career as a labor and employment attorney at a premiere law firm in Atlanta, Georgia and represented unionized and non-unionized clients in a myriad of industries.    Her practice primarily focused on employment discrimination defense and included handling single-plaintiff and class action cases in federal and state courts and before various agencies.   After practicing law for seven years, she accepted a role with Equifax Inc. in Atlanta as Associate Group Counsel, where she managed all employment litigation for the $1.4 Billion company and negotiated contracts for one of its emerging business units.    In that role, Trisha assumed additional duties and became the company’s first Compliance and Ethics Officer, launching a comprehensive compliance and ethics program in the U.S. and eight other countries.    She also subsequently served in various senior Human Resources roles while at Equifax.  

Trisha currently practices employment law in Atlanta and her practice focuses on handling sensitive internal investigations for employers as well as pro-active advice and counseling.   She has a unique vantage point to help HR leaders because she previously served in various CHRO roles, such as Chief People, Legal and Compliance Officer for Tegra LLC, a sports apparel manufacturer, with 12,000+ employees in the U.S., Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua.   Previously she served as Senior Vice President & Associate General Counsel and in various HR leadership roles for Education Management Corporation, a $3.5 Billion private company and second largest proprietary education company in the U.S.   

Trisha has a B.A. degree in Political Science from the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina and earned her Juris Doctor degree from the Ohio State University College of Law in 1995.  She is a member of the State Bar in Georgia.   

Attorney | Elarbee Thompson

Keely Collins

As both counselor and advocate for businesses large and small across all sectors, unionized and non-unionized, Keely takes a practical approach to advising and advocating for businesses nationwide. Both small family businesses and corporate boards of directors have benefited from Keely’s attention to the details of law and business, creative solutions, and zealous advocacy for businesses in negotiations before numerous administrative agencies, and in all levels of state and federal court. As an experienced collaborator with large organizations’ in-house counsel and general and employment counsel, Keely is trusted by other attorneys to strengthen the value they offer to the organizations they serve.

Keely was selected by her peers as a 2019 Super Lawyers Rising Star. She holds an LL.M. in tax, with a specialization in employee benefits, from Villanova University School of Law, and she earned her Juris Doctorate from Widener University School of Law.