Ashley is a member of the firm’s Labor & Employment Department. Ashley represents management-side clients in all aspects of employment-related litigation and internal investigations focusing on allegations of misconduct, harassment, and discrimination, including those against executive-level employees. Ashley also counsels corporate clients on a wide range of labor and employment-related issues, including compliance with federal and state anti-discrimination laws, investigating and responding to charges of discrimination or harassment, and employee discipline and discharge issues.
Previously a member of the firm’s Government Investigations & White Collar Litigation department, Ashley has experience representing corporate clients and their executives in investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
Prior to joining McGuireWoods, Ashley began her legal career in the White Collar Defense & Government Investigations and Commercial Litigation practices of a prominent Washington, D.C. law firm. She also served as a law clerk to the Honorable Graham C. Mullen of the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.
Ashley graduated from the Wake Forest University School of Law, where she was a Dean’s Scholar, a Moot Court champion, and an editor for the Journal of Business and Intellectual Property Law. While in law school, Ashley served as a judicial extern for the Honorable Paul L. Friedman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Experience
- Member of a trial team that successfully defended a government contractor and several individual defendants against 13 counts alleging misappropriation of trade secrets and other business torts.
- Member of a litigation team that defended an executive against the SEC’s insider trading claims related to a merger of New York Stock Exchange-listed companies, leading to the court’s determination that the SEC’s circumstantial evidence of trading and communication patterns and the trader’s close relationship with a corporate insider, without more, rendered its case too speculative.
- Represented a government contractor in litigation related to a major cybersecurity breach, resulting in a favorable pretrial settlement.
- Represented current and former senior-level executives of a multinational manufacturing company embroiled in civil lawsuits, congressional testimony, and a DOJ investigation related to a consumer product with alleged safety issues.
- Represented qui tam relators in False Claims Act proceedings alleging fraud against state and federal health care programs and evasion of countervailing, antidumping, and Section 301 duties.
- Represented individuals in the SEC’s GameStop Corporation investigation.
- Represented a prominent lobbying firm in an investigation by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
- Represented a multinational engineering firm in an internal investigation and disclosure of potential False Claims Act issues to the U.S. Department of Defense, resulting in the Inspector General’s closure of the case with no action.
- Represented a multinational engineering firm in False Claims Act and Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act litigation related to military interpretation and translation services provided by the firm’s joint venture company in Kuwait.
- Represented several employees of a health care provider in a DOJ investigation, resulting in the government’s closure of the case with no action.
- Maintains an active pro bono docket, including defending a producer of a popular television show in breach of contract litigation against her former business partner.
- North Carolina
- District of Columbia
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
- U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina
Honoree, Justice Potter Stewart Award for contribution to the DC Compassionate Release Clearinghouse Project, Council for Court Excellence, 2021
Order of Barristers, Wake Forest University School of Law, 2019
National Sweet Sixteen, National Moot Court Competition, The New York City Bar Association, 2019
Regional Finalist, National Moot Court Competition, The New York City Bar Association, 2018
National Appellate Advocacy Competition, American Bar Association, 2017
Finalist, Best Brief Award, and Runner-up Best Oral Advocate Award, Edwin M. Stanley Moot Court Competition, Wake Forest University School of Law, 2017
Champion, George K. Walker Moot Court Competition, Wake Forest University School of Law, 2017
- Hon. Graham C. Mullen, U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, 2023
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Wake Forest University School of LawJD
Notes and Comments Editor, Journal of Business and Intellectual Property Law
2019 -
Appalachian State UniversityBAHonors English – Professional/Technical Writing, Creative Writing; minor in Political Science
Dean’s List
2014
Member, Women’s Bar Association for the District of Columbia
Member, Women’s White Collar Defense Association
Member, Women Lawyers of Charlotte
Member, American Bar Association
- Author, Supreme Court Lowers the Standard for Discrimination Claims Based on Job Transfers, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, May 1, 2024
- Author, Federal District Court Declares Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) Unconstitutional, Subject to Inquiry, March 4, 2024
- Author, "What UnitedHealth’s Loss at the D.C. Circuit Means for Medicare Advantage Plans and FCA Enforcement," JDSupra, August 18, 2021
- Author, "PPP Borrowers Beware: More Money Can Lead to More Problems," JDSupra, July 9, 2021
- Author, "DOJ Guidance on Evaluation Corporate Compliance Programs," Bloomberg Law, June 1, 2020