MEREDITH HOBBS | mhobbs@alm.com JAMES RADFORD and Regan Keebaugh have started their own plain- tiffs firm, handling civil rights and employment cases. The two met in law school at the Uni- versity of Georgia, graduating in 2006, then worked together at Parks Chesin & Walbert, which handles a lot of plain- tiffs employment cases. Radford, 33, left Parks Chesin to start his own firm at the beginning of 2012, and Keebaugh, 35, joined him earlier this year. I let him know that whenever he was ready, I had an office for him, Radford said. Their firm, Radford & Keebaugh, is in Decatur, on the square across from the new courthouse. Radford said hes attracted to civil rights cases. I like to talk about free- dom, justice and the American way, he said. Regan is more of a numbers guy. No one can work a spreadsheet like him. Keebaugh said about 80 percent of his practice at Parks Chesin was rep- resenting public employees who were wrongfully terminated. He also rep- resented people whod experienced workplace discrimination. He said he is continuing to take those type casesand also Fair Labor Stan- dards Act cases, representing employees in wage and hour suits. In FSLA cases, he said, its relatively clear-cut whether the law has been violated. You look at the facts and compare them to the law. What James is good at is taking a case with a lot of gray in it and then pursuing a theory, Keebaugh said, by THURSDAY, JULY 31, 2014 Plaintiffs firm opens in Decatur FORMER COLLEAGUES at Parks Chesin & Walbert set out to handle civil rights, employment cases Regan Keebaugh, left, represents plaintiffs suing employers, while his partner, James Radford, said he likes to talk about freedom, justice and the American way. JOHN DISNEY/DAILY REPORT drawing on other cases that may not look analogous initially to argue that the law has been violated. Keebaugh said they are also handling business disputes, which are billed hour- ly fees instead of on contingency. For a firm our size, its important to have a good mix of hourly and contin- gency work so we can pay the bills while chasing after our contingency cases, Keebaugh said, adding that about half of their cases come from referrals and half from Internet marketing. W. Caleb Gross, whod been working with Radford, is an associate at the firm. He received his law degree from Geor- gia State University in 2011. Keith Barry is the firms paralegal. Keebaugh said they have not taken out any loans. You just have to plan and save money, he said, adding that the best business advice he received from a mentor attorney was to live modestly. Even with family obligations, said Keebaugh, who like Radford and Gross is married with young children, weve been able to do what we think is the best thing for us and have fun doing it. Keebaugh said Parks Chesin was a great place to learn how to be a lawyer. You get a fair amount of responsibility at a young age, and they do try casesa lot of firms dont anymore. The first case Keebaugh worked on at Parks Chesin was a complex voting rights case involving a school board in South Carolina, where members were elected at large. Parks Chesin success- fully defended the Lexington County School District 3 from a suit claim- ing that at-large voting had diluted minority votes in violation of the Civil Rights Act. The primary evidence was statis- tical analysis, said Keebaugh, who has an undergraduate degree in eco- nomics, examining voter turnout and votes per candidate to try and deter- mine how candidates preferred by minority voters fared. In another complex case, Keebaugh, along with David Walbert, A. Lee Parks and Larry Chesin, won $4.8 mil- lion in back pay and interest in a 2011 arbitration judgment for 23 Fulton County judicial staff attorneys. They successfully argued that, through a 1997 program, the lawyers should have received pay raises commensurate to those given to staff attorneys working for the County Attorney. One of the first cases that Radford took on after going solo was for an Alpharetta High School student who sued the school after he was removed as student body president for trying to make the prom more inclusive to gay students. 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 removed him as student body president because of a history of negative interactions. Although Story rejected Lacks suit to be reinstated, he commended Lack for his desire to make the prom more inclusive. I think you had a great idea in terms of what caused you to want to do this, he said. The case drew coverage from local TV stations and newspapers as well as Londons Daily Mail. It was an exciting way to start out, Radford said. I tend to take cases I believe in. Radford is currently suing Georgia State University under the Americans With Disabilities Act on behalf of a student who was subjected to its man- datory risk assessment program after he disclosed during a routine medical screening that he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Many colleges have instituted threat assessment programs in response to the rash of school shootings dating back to the Columbine shootings in 1999. The student was kicked out of his dorm and told he must get regular counseling, take medication and sub- mit a compliance report to GSU before he could return to campus housing, according to the complaint and GSUs motion for summary judgment. GSU also tried to have him involuntarily committed at Grady Memorial Hospi- tal. Campus police officers took the stu- dent to Grady but a psychologist there said after an evaluation that he did not meet the criteria. The student, who will be a junior in the fall, is living off cam- pus. The suit, filed in 2013 in U.S. Dis- trict Court for the Northern District of Georgia, is R.W. v. Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. Radford said hes suing because there is nothing in any of his records saying he shows a risk of violence or has been in trouble or has threatened anyone. Radfords complaint argues that the student has been singled out for special treatment because of the schizophrenia diagnosis. GSUs motion for summary judgment says that GSUs treatment of the plaintiff does not violate the Ameri- cans With Disabilities Act. The motion does not cite any threatening words or behaviors by the student, but it says the GSU psychologist who initially inter- viewed him reported behaviors that correspond with possible psychosis, which, in turn, increases the likelihood that a person may engage in violence against others. The student told the psychologist hed seen and heard things before, according to the motion. GSUs only defense, Radford said, is that if someone is schizophrenic, they pose a risk of violence. Can a school unambiguously target a student based on mental illness? he asked. There is not a lot of law on this issue right now, Radford said. Whatever the ruling is, its going to have a big impact. This is the type of law I always want- ed to do, he added. Luckily Ive been able to build a practice doing it. DR DAILY REPORT JULY 31, 2014 Reprinted with permission from the 7/31/14 edition of the DAILY REPORT 2014 ALM Media Properties, LLC. All rights reserved. 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