Kimberly L. Russell

E-Mail: krussell@kaplaw.com Phone: 610-941-2541 Fax: 610-684-2026 vCard PDF Assistant: Danielle M. Gosciniak dgosciniak@kaplaw.com Kimberly L. Russell is the Chairperson of the Employment Law Department. Kimberly’s practice focuses on representing employers in a variety of matters including best management practices, workforce management for multistate and “virtual office” employers, avoiding employment claims, employee counseling (including discipline and termination), workforce training (including for insurance/contract compliance), management and executive training, workplace investigations, and dispute resolution. Kimberly handles a vast array of claims for employers including harassment and discrimination claims of all types, wage and hour claims (including overtime), Family and Medical Leave Act claims, management of disability issues, issues under the Affordable Care Act, HIPAA, unemployment compensation, employment contracts (including protection of confidential/trade secret information), and executive contracts. She handles claims for her clients in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Federal Courts, and before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, New Jersey Division on Civil Rights, municipal human relations commissions, the Department of Labor (including the Wage and Hour Division), various unemployment compensation bureaus, and private arbitration and mediation. Kimberly is the founder of the Employers’ Legal Defense Institute (SM) at Kaplin Stewart. She founded the ELDI as part of her ongoing effort to educate and train employers on workforce management issues in order to help employers mitigate risks from employee claims and the resulting costs and disruption to the workplace. For more information on the ELDI, please visit www.ELDI.legal. Kimberly frequently tells her clients that although discrimination does occur still and should not be tolerated, the “system” goes too far in allowing employees and their lawyers to bring baseless claims without consequence and allowing employees to manipulate that “system,” all at great cost to employers and the employees left behind. She believes strongly that “the best offense is a great defense” and works with her clients to comply with the law, treat all employees fairly, and be able to present a strong, aggressive defense when necessary. Employers often find themselves in emergencies (i.e. needing to terminate someone immediately, but not knowing whether it is “safe” to do so). Kimberly often describes much of her practice as an “Employment Law Hotline,” where she will help an employer navigate a specific urgent situation, plan termination or discipline, and then help the employer avoid similar risks in the future. Employers never can prepare for everything, but strong workplace practices are the start of a more productive workplace. Kimberly initially concentrated her practice on real estate and commercial litigation, representing developers, builders, and related companies in the defense of numerous real estate sale and development disputes, contract claims, construction defect claims, and commercial disputes. When one of those clients was sued for alleged sexual harassment by a perpetually unhappy and unproductive employee, she began her defense of employers and has worked for the last two decades to help employers navigate and mitigate risk in a system that is inherently biased against employers.