KAREN
S. KIENBAUM, ESQ.
A litigator and ADR champion with
30+ years experience representing individuals and corporations.
She is an internationally recognized authority in the areas of
contract, labor and employment law, litigation, arbitration and
mediation. After 14 years as in-house counsel at Ford and Blue
Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, she founded her Detroit-based,
A-V rated law firm. She has been saluted by Corp! Magazine and
NAWBO as one of the Top 10 Michigan Business Women, and the law
firm as one of Michigan's top businesses. Karen is involved in
a wide variety of civic and professional organizations.
Karen is President of
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a proprietary risk management program. Its secure Helplines, internet
access, and protocol procedures cut costs, reduce legal exposure
and fraud, and meet compliance laws.
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| Education |
University
of Detroit Mercy School of Law, Detroit,
Michigan
J.D. 1975
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
B.A., History; B.A. Education; post
graduate work in history
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Legal Employment
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THE KIENBAUM
LAW GROUP, P.C.
Principal and Founder, March 1998 -
Present
Abbott, Nicholson, Quilter, Esshaki & Youngblood,
PC
of Counsel, 1995 - 1998
Varnum, Riddering, Schmidt & Howlett, LLP
Managing Counsel: Detroit Office,
1993 - 1995
Ford Motor Company
Senior Attorney, 1990-1993
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
Assistant General Counsel and
Director, 1978-1979, 1981-1990
Legal Aid and Defender Association of Detroit
Deputy Defender, 1975-1978
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| Prior
Experience |
Representation of public
and private sector parties and interests, individuals and employers.
Focus on employment and labor relations including: contract disputes,
training and investigation and early analysis of allegations of wrongdoing;
litigation; wrongful discharge; discrimination, harassment; workplace
torts; negotiations;work stoppages; reductions in force; alternate
dispute resolution (ADR) procedures; regulatory proceedings, including
NLRB, USDOL, OSHA, EEOC and OFCCP.
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Areas of Practice
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Labor and Employment
& Contract Issues; Facilitation/ Mediation/ Arbitration; Policies,
Procedures and Training Programs, Expert Witness and neutral investigations;
advice and counsel to individuals and employers. Emphasis - Discrimination,
Wrongful Discharge, Health Care Issues, OSHA.
Ms. Kienbaum is also Founder and President of
ADROS, Inc., a Human Resource Solutions firm and has a patent pending
on its
Programs, the premier human resource solution for resolving employee
complaints.
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Professional
Admissions
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U.S. SUPREME
COURT; U. S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT; MICHIGAN SUPREME
COURT AND ALL MICHIGAN state courts, 1975-present
AMERICAN ARBITRATION ASSOCIATION (AAA): Employment Advisory Council
1996-present; neutral member: Commercial Panel, Employment Panel,
and Labor Panel.
AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION (ABA); Delegate, House of Delegates,
1993-to present; member,
Standing Committee on Group and Prepaid Legal Programs 2003;member,
Commission on Advertising and Commission on Responsible Client
Development, 1997-01; member,
Caucus of State Bar Assoc. 1999-present, member
ADR, Labor and Employment Law Sections
STATE BAR OF MICHIGAN; Commissioners’ Appointee: ABA House
of Delegates 1998-04 and Caucus of State Bars; Chair:
Standing Committee on Professionalism, 1991-00; member, Character
and Fitness, 2001-to 2003; Council, Labor Relations Section,
1987-92
DETROIT METROPOLITAN BAR ASSOCIATION; President 1992-93, Officer
and Director 1986-93, Chairperson of the Year; Chair: Labor
Section, 1985; Chair, Corporate Counsel Section 1989,
Trustee, Board of Trustees 1984-86; Delegate, ABA House
of Delegates (3 terms)
AMERICAN CORPORATE COUNSEL ASSOCIATION (ACCA) – President, Michigan
Chapter 1990; member, Board of Directors 1984-90; founder and Trustee,
ACCA Scholarship 1991
SIXTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT: Life member
MEDIATION TRIBUNAL NEUTRAL PANELIST: Wayne, Oakland and Macomb
Counties
FEDERAL, WOMEN’S, OAKLAND & MACOMB County Bar Associations: member
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Rating/
Recognition
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Martindale-Hubbell
Rating A-V 1975 to present
Who's Who in American Law, 5th Edition, 1987-88
Who's Who in American Women, 6th Edition, 1987-88
The National Registry of Who's Who 2000 - Lifetime Member
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Selected
Publications &
Presentations
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Speaker/Text Materials:
UDM
School of Law: Speaker, Lunch with a Lawyer
Detroit, Michigan, January 2011
MACPA'S
2010 Annual Conference: Presenter,
Employee Faud: Prevention, Detection & the Law
Livonia, Michigan, May 2010
American Arbitration
Association: Presenter,
How to Be a More Effective Advocate in the Mediation Process
Southfield, Michigan, December 2009
Michigan Association of
Public School Academies: Speaker,
Risk Management for Charter Schools. Detroit, Michigan, November
2008
Center
for International Legal Studies: Employment Law Update, Pilansburg,
South Africa, May 2008
Center for International Legal Studies: Corporate
Governance in an International Marketplace, Salzburg, Austria
2003 and 2005
Illinois CPA Society/Foundation: Pitfalls in
a Compliance conscious world, Chicago, Illinois 2003
Center for International Legal Studies: Employment
Issues in the International Market, Valle Nuevo, Chile 2002
Michigan Lawyers Weekly: “ ADR advocacy in Y2K”,
1999
ICLE: Advocacy Institute U of M., “Alternate
Dispute Resolution” 1998
Personnel Law Update: “Litigation Prevention
Audits,” 1990, 1991; 1996, “OSHA Issues in an Office Environment,”
1991; OSHA Hot Issues, 1992.
California Business Law Institute: Sex Discrimination/Harassment,
1989, 1990: Wrongful Discharge, 1991; Litigation Prevention
1992, 1996.
Troy Consortium to Prevent Violence: Legal Exposure
from Violence in the Workplace, 1995.
A.E. Robert’s Seminars: Sexual Harassment: Prevention
and Investigation. 1995.
U .S. Postal Service Symposium: Violence in the
Workplace, Washington, D.C., 1993
University of Wisconsin: Speaker, The Crisis
Employment Workplace Issues, 1993
Joint Seminar: Wayne St U, U of Det. Mercy, Det.
College of Law: The Changing Workplace, 1991.
Employment Law and Risk Management Seminar: Wrongful
Termination, 1991.
State Bar of Michigan, 1989 Annual Mtg: Litigation
Cost Analysis; Winter Mtg. 1991:
Mediation Techniques from the Defense Lawyer’s Perspective;
Annual Mtg. 1991 Sex Harassment, 1991
Author:
DRI Newsletter “Mandatory Arbitration-Is it Dead?"
American Society of Employers, “Violence in the Workplace",
October, 1993-and 1996
Spring Magazine: “1993 OSHA’s Biggest Year
Yet”, 1993
Focus: “Mediation Techniques”, 1992
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Civic/Misc.
Activities
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United States Sixth Circuit Judicial Conference, Life
Member
Alternate Dispute Resolution Outsourcing Solutions, Inc.
(ADROS) President, CEO and founder of
Magistrate Judge Selection Committee, U. S. District Court
(Eastern District of Michigan), Chair, 1993
American Bar Association, Fellow
Detroit Bar Foundation, Founder, Trustee
American Corporate Counsel Association Scholarship,
Founder, 1990
Michigan State Bar Foundation, Fellow, (elected 1985)
Grosse Pointe Park Foundation, Grosse Pointe Park,
Michigan, Member
Hunter’s Creek Club and Detroit Club, Member
AIDS Consortium of Southeastern Michigan, Detroit,
MI, Member
Other interests include outdoor sports and reading, and daughter
Ursula, a labor and employment attorney in Portland, Oregon, and
new twin grandbabies.
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