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Jill Kirila combines a focus on results with a client-centric approach to serving clients in a broad range of industries, including technology, retail, manufacturing, healthcare and financial services.
Jill partners with clients to understand their business objectives, see beyond the legal issues and formulate a practical, real-world approach to solving labor and employment problems. She draws on her extensive multistate counseling and litigation experience before federal and state courts and administrative agencies to design early, aggressive litigation and litigation avoidance strategies that combine creativity, commitment to understanding the client’s business and the client’s ultimate goals. She has counseled and defended employers against and involving all types of discrimination claims, wage and hour class and collective actions and disputes in federal courts, and executive (including ERISA) benefits and breach of contract claims.
A key part of Jill’s practice is advising on executive compensation, benefits and contract matters, from structuring the relationship to executing a removal strategy when necessary, and defending or prosecuting resulting claims, including post-termination non-compete and trade secret breaches. Having represented employers for more than 20 years, she also uses her extensive knowledge of labor and employment law to advise high-level executives and top management teams on the full strategy of executive contract negotiation.
A regular part of Jill’s practice includes advising non-US based companies on establishing or expanding a presence in the US and ensuring the appropriate employment infrastructure and protections are in place. Jill also regularly works with clients and the firm’s corporate and tax practitioners on labor and employment matters arising in mergers, acquisitions, restructurings and other business transactions, including union and plant-closing and mass layoff law issues.
Jill also provides advice and counsel on legal issues unique to government contractors, including compliance with the OFCCP, Service Contract Act, Fair Labor Standards Act and the Davis-Bacon Act.
Jill is listed in Ohio Super Lawyers, a distinction honoring the top lawyers in the state. She has also appeared in The Best Lawyers in America since 2012.
Jill is a member of the Georgetown University’s Alumni Admissions Committee, serves on the board of Catholic Social Services and is a graduate of the Leadership Columbus class of 2007.
- Obtaining numerous summary judgment dismissals for clients in federal court and with appellate court affirmation in cases involving discrimination and related employee claims.
- Representing a 10-person executive management team of a public marketing technology company in the billion-dollar acquisition by private equity.
- Successfully representing a satellite television industry client in multidistrict litigation of nationwide class and collective wage and hour actions involving thousands of plaintiffs.
- Obtaining summary judgment in federal court on all Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) claims based on separation pay benefits brought against a national insurance company.
- Obtaining multiple temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions to enforce non-compete provisions and trade secret restrictions on behalf of several national clients.
- Counseling large multistate clients through company-wide reductions in force and restructurings.
- Representing a national retailer with respect to all labor and employment counseling needs and pre-litigation and litigation matters across the country.
- Developing and executing exit strategies for multiple CEOs of public and privately held clients and defending and prosecuting post-termination claims.
- Representing a major international retailer in a multimillion-dollar ERISA action filed by former executive.
Education
- Georgetown University, J.D., 1997
- The Ohio State University, B.A., summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, 1994
Admissions
- New York, 2018
- Florida, 2011
- Texas, 2011
- Ohio, 1997
Courts
- U.S. Ct. of App., Sixth Circuit
- U.S. Dist. Ct., S. Dist. of Ohio
- U.S. Dist. Ct., N. Dist. of Ohio
- U.S. Dist. Ct., S. Dist. of Texas
- U.S. Dist. Ct., S. Dist. of Florida
- U.S. Dist. Ct., Middle Dist. of Florida
- U.S. Dist. Ct., N. Dist. of Indiana
Memberships & Affiliations
- Member of the Georgetown University’s Alumni Admissions Committee
- Serves on the board of Catholic Social Services
Languages
- English
- Spanish
- Recognized in Columbus CEO magazine’s 2023 Top Lawyers in the Columbus area
- Recognized in Chambers USA for Labor & Employment in Ohio
- Named The Best Lawyers in America 2017 Columbus Employment Law – Individuals Lawyer of the Year
- Graduate of the Leadership Columbus class of 2007