Vanessa M. Kelly
Vanessa Kelly strategizes with employers to minimize their legal risks and optimize the employee experience, to help companies focus on their business.
Clients partner with Vanessa when looking to create and foster respectful workplaces that comply with national and state employment standards. Vanessa counsels her management clients about their employee relations concerns. This counseling may include any manner of employment issues. For example: terminations, accommodating disabilities, workplace misconduct, protecting key employees and proprietary information, reductions in force, and using policies to avoid disputes. She creates employment and other transactional agreements to meet her client’s goals, including securing long-term executive employment, restructuring or reorganization, retention agreements, separation agreements and covenants restricting use of confidential information and deterring unfair competition.
Vanessa’s work with a variety of industries means she has the broad knowledge her clients need, while maintaining her deep roots within labor & employment. Industries include healthcare, insurance, professional service firms, manufacturers, airlines, auto dealers, professional organization (like accounting and law firms) , religious congregations, universities and K-12 schools, and executives.
When a client finds themselves a party to a lawsuit, Vanessa’s years of trial experience are invaluable, but her internal investigative work is the key to keeping these suits to a minimum. Vanessa investigates and then guides the client through the investigative process. As part of her preventative strategy, she trains HR teams, managers, and employees on a variety of employment topics. She assists clients with audits and other administrative agency proceedings. As a certified Title IX investigator Vanessa received training on trauma-informed investigation techniques and completed course work to serve as a Title IX hearing officer. In this capacity she provides counseling and compliance services for her university clients.
Vanessa’s pragmatic approach to counseling clients recognizes that employees and diverse teams are essential to business success, so she partners with her clients to create inclusive, equitable, and diverse workplaces. As a close confidante to business owners, chief executive officers, general counsel, employment counsel and HR directors, she provides sage advice based on open communication to achieve their objectives making her the collaborative leader her clients need.
Vanessa currently serves as the Co-Chair of the firm’s BOLD initiative to promote women within the firm, the legal profession, and the business community. Vanessa also hosts a podcast series, “Leading in a Lonely World: Conversations with Transformative Leaders,” where she interviews community leaders who share their thoughts on leadership against the backdrop of a tumultuous world.
Education
Recognitions
- Rated AV-Preeminent Martindale-Hubbell
*This award is conferred by Martindale-Hubbell. A description of the selection methodology can be found at www.martindale.com/ratings-and-reviews. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.
- Top Legal Minds in New Jersey
- Bar Register Preeminent Women Lawyers
- The New Jersey Legal Awards, Mentor of the Year (2021)
- Recognized as a Leader in Law by NJBIZ (2022)
Memberships
American Bar Association, Section of Labor & Employment Law, Nominating Committee, Annual Conference Planning Vice Chair, Employee Rights & Responsibilities Committee; co-Chair Executive Agreements and Compensation
College of Labor & Employment Lawyers, Fellow
SHRM, HRMA Princeton Chapter, Co-Legislative Director
New Jersey Bar Association, Appellate Practice & Legal Education Committees; former Chair, Women in the Profession Section
Acorn Montessori School, General Counsel (Pro Bono)
Employment at Will, ABA/Bloomberg Treatise, Regional Editor and Chapter Author
New Jersey Legal Award Winner – Mentor of the Year
State Bar Licenses
Court Admissions
2024 Title IX Regulations Struck Down - What’s Next for Higher Education?
Explore moreVIRTUAL TRAINING: Understanding the New Title IX Regulation and Preparing for the 2024/2025 School Year and Beyond
Join Clark Hill attorneys Vanessa Kelly and Maria Dwyer for a half-day training program that will provide an in-depth training on the 2024 final rule and its impact on colleges and universities. This training is created by Title IX legal specialists for higher education professionals and is designed to aid in developing compliant solutions to help prepare you and your institution for the new Title IX requirements. Two separate 4-hour sessions available.
Our Working Theory: Creating a Respectful Workplace Is the Antidote to Sexual Harassment in the Workplace
Explore moreTop Takeaways From “Going Global: Employment Solutions in Retail and Hospitality”
Explore moreOSHA Withdraws Temporary COVID-19 Vaccine Rule, Foreshadows Permanent Standard
Explore moreArtificial Discrimination: AI Vendors May Be Liable for Hiring Bias in Their Tools
Explore moreDepartment of Education Makes Significant Changes to the Title IX Regulations Governing Disciplinary Processes Addressing Sexual Misconduct
Explore morePay Transparency Laws Are on the Rise and They Come With Surprising Complications
Explore moreGoing Global: Employment Solutions in Retail & Hospitality
Are you curious about labor and employment issues across the globe?
Our presenters, who hail from every corner of the world, will discuss union activity, The Great Resignation, and many other topics impacting the global economy today.
Supreme Court Halts OSHA Vaccine ETS, Allows Healthcare Mandate To Move Forward
Explore moreWebinar
Webinar
Leading in a Lonely World: Conversations with Transformative Leaders” is hosted by Vanessa Kelly, an employment attorney with Clark Hill PLC. In this podcast, we meet with business owners and entrepreneurs, C-suite officers, legal and HR professionals, and community leaders who share their thoughts on leadership against the backdrop of a tumultuous world. Tune in to exchange ideas on best practices with the goal of strengthening not only your own leadership skills but working to build strong leaders among your workforce and communities
- WEBINAR: Labor and Employment – PG Training on Conducting Investigations
- Co-Author, “Failure to train managers on FMLA costs employer $248K”, Nevada Employment Law Letter, December 2017
- Simple Steps Can Help Cos. Avoid Costly FMLA Verdicts, Law 360, November 2017
- Co-Presenter, Key Employment Laws for Not-for-Profits, Sobol, P.C.
- WEBINAR: What Employers Should Know About NJ Employment Law
- WEBINAR: Title IX: Hot Topics
- BLR FMLA Master Class, Pittsburgh, PA
- Presenter, Mental Health Issues in the Workplace, NJ
- Presenter, Political Expression in a Non-Union Workplace, ABA, L&E, ERR Committee 2018
- Speaker, HRMA-Princeton, Legal Conference, March 8, 2021
- “The Invisible Menace: Mental Health Impacts of COVID-19 on Employees”, Clark Hill Webinar, January 2021
- NY and NJ Continue to Expand Employee Rights. Have You Been Keeping Up With the Changes?
- “Effective Use of Motions in Limine in Employment Trials” ABA, Section of Labor & Employment Law, Annual Meeting, New Orleans, November 2019
- “What Not to Do During an Investigation” Garden State SHRM Conference, August 2019
- Presenter, “Age Discrimination Plaintiffs Hit the Jackpot: Lessons Learned from Recent Big-Ticket Jury Awards,” Michigan Chamber of Commerce Webinar, June 2017
- Presenter, “Unemployment Hearings – Trends and Tips,” Delaware Valley Labor and Employment Law Conference, April 2017
- Presenter, “Hot Topics in Labor and Employment Law,” Delaware Valley Labor and Employment Law Conference, April 2017
- WEBINAR: Title IX: Hot Topics
- “Tea & Tidbits” monthly webinar series (2021)
- “Beyond COVID-19, Employment Law is Changing: Focus Independent Contractors”
- “Additional COVID-19 Benefits for New Jersey Employees”
- Are You Prepared for Immigrant Enforcement, CFMA, April 2018