Ms. Marion Francis Walker

1976, Alabama
1980, Georgia
U.S. Supreme Court
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. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama
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. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi
U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska
U.S. Tax Court

of the Litigation Counsel of America. Since 1997, Marion has been certified in Civil Trial Advocacy by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. She is the founder and former president of the Birmingham Inns of Court. She is a member of the Alabama State Bar, Labor & Employment and Corporate Law Sections; State Bar of Georgia, Labor & Employment and Litigation Sections, and the American Bar Association, Labor & Employment and Litigation Sections. Marion was selected by the Judges of the Northern District of Alabama to serve both on the Rules Committee and the Liaison Committee of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Alabama. She was also a member of the Third Citizen's Conference convened by former Governor Albert Brewer and Supreme Court Justice Oscar Adams (deceased) to develop a plan as an alternative to the election of state court judges.

Marion speaks and writes on topics including issues related to electronic discovery and document retention policies as well as employment and business related matters. She has presented "Prevailing Wage Fundamentals and Compliance During Construction Projects," NBI Seminar-Oct. 2008; "Spoliation Sanctions: Can The Court Really Dismiss Your Case," Lorman Seminar, July 2004; "Discovery and Document Retention," Lorman Seminar, May 2004; and numerous seminars for invited general counsel on electronic discovery and the new federal rules of civil procedure.

During law school, she served on the Cumberland School of Law Reviewfor three years and was Comments Editor (1975-1976). She was also a Moot Court Associate Justice (1974-1976).

Recent Experience

· Marion was lead counsel on a Fair Labor Standards Act case against a client involving multiple claims of wage-hour violations. The team effort limited the number of locations involved and careful discovery resulted in a very satisfactory settlement in 2009.

· Marion is currently handling the defense of a multiple-plaintiff employment discrimination lawsuit brought by the EEOC against a client with national operations.

· She is defending more than twenty labor or discrimination cases or arbitrations for employers while developing training for managers of clients with multi-state operations.

· Over a three period, Marion has been able to obtain the dismissal of at least four lawsuits before the summary judgment stage.

Recent Publications

· "The New Pleading Standard - What is it? Analysis of Bell Atlantic Corp v. Twombly," IADC Committee Newsletter, November 2007

· "The 2006 FRCP Amendments: Discovery Practice on the New Frontier," In-House Quarterly, Spring 2007

· "Plaintiff's Failure To Preserve Electronic Files May Warrant Dismissal," IADC Business Litigation Newsletter, November 2006

· "Managing Trade Secrets: Protect Against Employee Theft," For The Defense, August 2006

Honors and Awards

· "Alabama Super Lawyers" (2009 and 2010) and "Super Lawyers - Corporate Counsel Edition" (2009) by Law & Politicsmagazine

· AV® Preeminent Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell

Memberships

International Association of Defense Counsel

Defense Research Institute

Alabama State Bar

State Bar of Georgia

American Bar Association