Ms Kelly Hensley > Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP > Los Angeles, United States > Lawyer Profile

Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP
333 SOUTH HOPE STREET
FORTY-THIRD FLOOR
LOS ANGELES, CA 90071
CALIFORNIA
United States
Kelly Hensley photo

Work Department

Labor & Employment

Position

Kelly Hensley is a partner in the Los Angeles office and is Leader of the firm’s Labor and Employment Practice Group. She specializes in labor and employment counseling and wage and hour matters.

Compliance Audits. Kelly regularly conducts wage-hour and HR-related compliance audits for companies of all sizes. She helps clients create compliance programs designed to meet state and federal requirements.

Employment Counseling. Kelly regularly counsels employers in California and federal employment law, including employee hiring and discipline procedures, unfair competition matters, worker classification issues, leaves of absence, wage and hour law and employee severance and termination strategies. She has substantial expertise drafting employment agreements and policies such as employee handbooks, independent contractor agreements, confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements, sexual harassment policies, email and internet usage policies and employment-related forms.

Kelly advocates a proactive approach, counseling employers to evaluate their employment practices to minimize liability exposure. Her client-focused counsel is tailored to serve the long-term goals of each client.

Training and Investigations. Kelly frequently conducts training lectures and seminars on general human resources issues. She also assists with sexual harassment and other employment related investigations and implements effective employee discipline or exit strategies in response to those investigations.

Employment Litigation. In addition to her counseling practice, Kelly regularly represents clients in wage-hour class actions and matters before administrative agencies.

Education

J.D., Loyola Law School, 1988

B.A., University of California, Santa Barbara, 1985

Lawyer Rankings

United States > Labor and employment > Labor and employment disputes (including collective actions)

The group at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP regularly handles an array of employment litigation, with core mandates including wage and hour, non-compete, discrimination, wrongful termination, defamation, and breach of contract mandates. The team’s sectoral expertise covers healthcare, transportation, financial services, retail, fashion, and hospitality. Los Angeles-based Kelly Hensley co-leads, along with New York-based Jonathan Stoler, who represents international clients in a variety of contentious and transactional matters. Additional key department figures include Chicago-based Kevin Cloutier, who has experience appearing before state and federal trial and appellate courts across the country; and Los Angeles-based Tracey Kennedy, lauded as a ‘superstar employment defense trial lawyer’.