D.J. O'Brien III

D.J. O'Brien III


Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard LLP

Recognized since 2019

Greensboro, North Carolina

Practice Areas

Employment Law - Management

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D.J. O’Brien’s practice is constantly evolving to advise and represent employers and individuals in commercial litigation, employment law, and regulatory enforcement actions. He has deep experience in all levels of federal and state appellate and trial courts in North Carolina, including the N.C. Business Court.

D.J. represents executives and companies who are under criminal or regulatory scrutiny concerning their business practices. He has extensive experience conducting sensitive internal investigations for companies, big and small, in an array of practice areas, including banking, health care, and securities.

As part of his criminal and civil litigation practice, D.J. regularly represents individuals and corporations from a variety of industries, including the health care, construction, defense, transportation, and technology sectors, in claims asserted under the False Claims Act. Recently, D.J.’s experience has included matters involving medical research grant fraud, including representing a whistleblower in a lawsuit against Duke University, who alleged that university researchers were committing grant fraud by relying on falsified experiment results. The case settled in 2019 for what is believed to be the largest recovery for research grant fraud in the history of the False Claims Act.

D.J. also represents businesses in a variety of employment-related litigation cases, including class and collective actions and discrimination and wage-and-hour claims, before state and federal agencies and courts. He has worked with companies in a broad variety of industries, including technology companies and franchises.

Location
  • Renaissance Plaza, Suite 2000
    230 North Elm Street
    P.O. Box 26000
    Greensboro, NC 27420
Education
  • Wake Forest University, J.D., graduated 2006
  • Vanderbilt University, B.A., graduated 1998
Bar Admissions
  • North Carolina, North Carolina
Affiliations
  • Our Lady of Grace Church Finance Council - Chairman, Member
  • Greensboro Rotary Club - President
  • AbolitionNC - Member, Board of Trustees
  • Greensboro Criminal Justice Advisory Commission - Member
  • Labor & Employment Law Section, NC Bar Association - Member
  • U.S. District Court, Middle District of NC - Member, Local Civil Rules Committee
Court Admissions
  • US District Court - Middle District of NC
  • US District Court - Eastern District of NC
  • US Court of Appeals - 4th, 11th Circuits
  • US District Court - Western District of NC
Federal Clerkships
  • United States District Court

Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® 2025 for work in:
  • Employment Law - Management
Special Focus:
  • COVID-19
Awards:
  • Recognized in North Carolina Super Lawyers (Thomson Reuters) as a “Rising Star” in Business Litigation (2012)
  • Recognized as a "Labor and Employment Star" by Benchmark Litigation (2020-2023)
Additional Areas of Practice:
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Criminal Defense: White-Collar
  • Litigation - ERISA
  • Litigation - Labor and Employment

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OSHA Issues New COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard for Private Employers with more than 100 Employees


OSHA Issues New COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard for Private Employers with more than 100 Employees

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D.J.

O'Brien

Justice Department and EEOC Issue Guidance on Disability Discrimination in Use of Artificial Intelligence in Hiring


Justice Department and EEOC Issue Guidance on Disability Discrimination in Use of Artificial Intelligence in Hiring

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D.J.

O'Brien

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