Jim Coil joined the firm in 1974 and is one of the firm’s most experienced partners concentrating in the representation of management in all phases of employment-related legal matters. Mr. Coil has represented employers in trial courts throughout the nation and has practiced before the United States Supreme Court; the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, Eleventh, and District of Columbia Circuits; the Supreme Court of Georgia; and the Georgia Court of Appeals. He has won numerous jury trials and cases on summary judgment and has negotiated favorable settlements in numerous other cases. His experience also includes defending multiplaintiff claims alleging wrongful termination, whistleblower cases, state and wage and hour violations and ERISA violations; and class actions alleging race, sex, and age discrimination under both state and federal law. He authored The New Supervisor’s EEO Handbook and has published more than 50 employment related articles.

Mr. Coil has been listed every year since 2007 in The Best Lawyers in America® for Labor and Employment Law, since 2007 as one of Who's Who Legal: Georgia's Labor & Employment Lawyers, and as one of Georgia Trend Magazine's 2009 “Legal Elite”. He has also been recognized as a Georgia “Super Lawyer” in the areas of Employment & Labor, Business Litigation and Civil Litigation Defense by SuperLawyers magazine every year since 2004 and in every edition of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business for Labor & Employment law since 2005. He has been recognized in The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers for 2009 and is AV® rated by Martindale-Hubbell*.

Mr. Coil has also been recognized in international publications such as the 2008 and 2009 editions of PLC's Cross Border Labour & Employment Lawyers Handbook, in the Guide to World's Leading Lawyers for Labour & Employment since 2006, and in the 2008 and 2009 editions of the International Who's Who of Business Lawyers for Labour & Employment law.

* CV, BV, and AV are registered certification marks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedure's standards and policies

Professional & Community Activities

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Past Member of Board of Directors

Governor's Advisory Task Force on AIDs, Past Member

Education

  • Harvard Law School, J.D.
  • Duke University, B.A.

Bar Admissions

  • Georgia (1971)

Court Admissions

  • U.S. Court of Military Appeals
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
  • U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
  • U.S. Supreme Court

Who We Are

Suite 2800, 1100 Peachtree Street
Atlanta, GA, 30309-4528
USA
t +1 404.815.6348
f +1 404.541.3161

James H. Coil III

Experience Highlights

Age discrimination collective actions for a major nationwide retailer
Represented a nationwide retailer in two related age discrimination collective actions brought by fourteen former store managers claiming that they more
Employment litigation for major North American bottled water company
Represented a major North American beverage company in a putative class action brought by seven route salespeople seeking to represent a class more
Employment litigation and class action for major bottled water company
Represented a major North American bottled water company in a class action brought in Los Angeles County Superior Court. Plaintiffs filed a class more
Employment litigation and class action for major North American bottled water company
Represented a major beverage company in a state-wide class action contending that our client's 800+ route salespeople were not exempt from the more