Overview

Kimberly L. Russell

Principal

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.

Practice Areas

Community Involvement

Counsel for a local religious organization
Created Child Safety Policy aimed at protecting children from abuse

Representative Experience

For more than twenty years, Kimberly has represented employers both in workforce management and counseling matters, as well as litigation. She concentrates her practice in virtually all areas of employment law, helping employers to mitigate risk through legal compliance and position themselves for a strong defense of claims which do arise.

Kimberly’s broad experience in the realm of employment law includes:

Workforce Management/Training/Counseling

Compliance training and counseling for employers regarding:

Antidiscrimination policies
Workplace disputes
Leave laws
Disability Accommodation
Religious Accommodation
Employee discipline issues
Hiring
Termination
Performance reviews
Overtime – management of overtime and classification of employees
Affordable Care Act
COBRA
HIPAA
Management/HR professional training on harassment, discrimination, accountability, communications and appropriate relationships with subordinates
Private executive management training for HR professionals and non-HR professional executives
Workplace investigations and dispute resolution (including investigation of harassment/discrimination)
Workforce training on harassment, discrimination, workplace privacy and communication (including training for insurance/contract compliance)
Employee handbooks and related workplace policies including drug testing, dress codes, social media
HR policy and procedure manuals
Employment contracts, including confidentiality, nonsolicitation, and trade secret protections
Executive contracts
Employee counseling and disciplinary reviews
High profile/difficult terminations – planning and implementation, conducting terminations
Layoff planning and implementation – including a selection of employees for layoff
Consulting with employers regarding the hiring of HR professionals – screening and interviewing candidates

Employment Litigation

Discrimination litigation (age, gender, disability, race, national origin, etc.)
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) litigation – including the interplay between FMLA and Americans with Disabilities Act
Wage and Hour litigation – Fair Labor Standards Act (including overtime), Wage Payment and Collection law
Employment contract and wage disputes – commission/bonus disputes, nonsolicitation, noncompetition, confidentiality agreements
Unemployment compensation litigation
Litigation before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Labor
Litigation before state anti-discrimination agencies
Litigation before local/municipal anti-discrimination agencies
Private arbitration and mediation

Real Estate and Commercial Litigation

Kimberly counsels and defends commercial enterprises, builders, and developers of all sizes in numerous disputes and issues that arise in the daily operation and protection of their businesses. She has handled a wide array of real estate and commercial disputes in Federal Court, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, as well as in Federal and State agencies overseeing real estate and commercial disputes such as fair housing, accessibility standards, real estate licensing, and disputes over the conduct of licensed professionals.

Kimberly represents numerous companies in matters related to contract review and compliance, including review and compliance related to intellectual property, software development, and protection of trade secret and proprietary information.

Kimberly’s varied experience in real estate and commercial litigation also includes:

Disputes over land sale/real estate contracts, including lis pendens and specific performance
Disputes between contractors and subcontractors, including contract/confidentiality issues
Fair Housing issues, including disputes over the sale and rental practices, accessibility of buildings
Business disputes, including contract disputes and issues regarding confidentiality and protection of trade secret information
Disputes between homebuilders and homebuyers
Landlord/Tenant Litigation, including Fair Housing
Real Estate Seller’s Disclosure Law litigation
Commercial disputes related to fraud and the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law
Complaints against licensed professionals filed with state agencies, including real estate salespersons/brokers
Defamation, including disputes over website/internet postings
Disputes between developers and municipal agencies/utilities

Publications & News

Publications

Spotlight on Employers’ Rights – Effective Protection from Harassment Claims Requires a Three Part Defense
Another Hazard for Employers: Amendments to the Family and Medical Leave Act Increase Employee Leave Entitlements
New Amendments to Americans with Disabilities Act Create New Headaches for Employers
The Latest Assault On Employers EEOC Strengthens Its Anti-Employer Policies
“The Smell Test”: A Practical Solution for Dealing with Drug and Alcohol Abuse on the Job
Employment Law meets Risk Management: Guide for Successful Employee Terminations
Steps to Successful Termination
Wild Year Ahead: Major Changes Possible for Employers
Philadelphia Enacts Paid Sick Leave Law
Supreme Court Upholds Obamacare Subsidies in Federal Exchanges
Are They Crazy? Amazon Pays Unhappy Employees to Leave
HR in the Crosshairs: Employer Hit with Huge Jury Verdict Due to HR’s Alleged Failure to Investigate Harassment Claims
New Hiring Restrictions on Philadelphia Employers

Speaking Engagements/Seminars

Employment Law from the Employer’s Chair training series
Documentation for HR Professionals; The Key to Protecting Employers
Human Resource Management Department Accommodations in the Workplace
Pennsylvania Bar Association – Real Estate Update
Pennsylvania Bar Association: Failure to Disclosure Seminar (Update on Real Estate Seller’s Disclosure Law)

Honors & Accolades

Best Lawyer in America 2018-2019, 2021
Super Lawyers: 2019 – 2020

News & Resources

Life

Kimberly often describes herself as a “recovering soccer mom.” After over fifteen years of running to soccer, soccer, and then soccer (fall soccer, indoor soccer, spring soccer, showcase soccer tournaments), and making it all the way through high school and college soccer with her two sons, she has retired her fold up chair, hand and toe warmers, and soccer blankets (for now, anyway).

To fill the “void” left by the absence of soccer tournaments, Kimberly and her husband decided to take on the world of running. She started training for races when her husband, a builder and developer who is “growing” the city of Hernando, Mississippi, started running charity races supporting select charities in Mississippi and Kimberly decided to join in. She was able to convince her husband to run their first half marathon in November 2016 by enticing him to run the Walt Disney World Wine and Dine Half Marathon, merging the challenge of running with their enjoyment of wine. The thought of finishing a half marathon in the midst of a wine and food festival was enough to get Kimberly and her husband across the finish line, and they have continued to train for races ever since.

Kimberly also is a hopeless, long suffering, and never-to-recover Eagles fan. Kimberly is a proud graduate of the Philadelphia Eagles’ Women’s Training Camp. She learned offensive line skills from Jon Runyan and ran routes with Brent Celek. Kimberly “bleeds green” but has lost a lot of blood and tears over the past decade with the Birds. Watching the Eagles win Super Bowl LII was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream and Kimberly will show anyone who asks the picture of her with the Lombardi trophy in her office. Calling Kimberly on a Monday morning after an Eagles loss is perilous, and if you are opposing counsel in a case on a bad Eagles Monday, look out. She also loves college football, and is one of the few people who watches the NFL combine and the draft. Kimberly’s dream job is to be a college recruiter and scout for the Eagles but because they have not called her yet, she will continue to do the “lawyer thing.”

Credentials

Admissions

Pennsylvania, 1994
New Jersey, 1994
U.S. District Court Eastern District of PA, 1994
U.S. District Court District of NJ, 1994
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, 2003
U.S.D.C. for the Middle District of PA

Education

Villanova University School of Law, Villanova, PA, J.D., 1994
Bloomsburg University, Bloomsburg, PA, B.A., summa cum laude, 1990

Memberships

Society for Human Resource Management
American Bar Association
Pennsylvania Bar Association
Montgomery County Bar Association