Kim Ebert

Kim Ebert is the current Managing Shareholder of Ogletree Deakins with overall responsibility for the Firm’s direction and delivery of client service. 

For over thirty years, Mr. Ebert has defended the interests of employers in the full range of labor and employment matters.  He has played a significant role in working with clients to develop a national strategy for labor and employment, and also regularly has assisted in due diligence in acquisitions and divestitures.

As a labor lawyer, Mr. Ebert has negotiated over 100 collective bargaining agreements, including agreements related to facility closings and work transfers.  He has played a key role in strike planning and related state court injunction litigation.  Mr. Ebert has also handled more than 200 arbitrations. He has successfully helped employers develop positive employment practices and resist union organizing by all of the major labor organizations in the United States.

As a litigator, Mr. Ebert has served as lead counsel both at the trial and appellate level in class, collective and multi-plaintiff actions, as well as the full range of individual suits under federal and state law.

A past member of the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Continuing Education of the Bar, Mr. Ebert is a frequent writer, speaker and seminar chair at regional and national conferences on labor and employment subjects for attorneys and human resource professionals.

Experience

Mr. Ebert has had the opportunity to represent employers across the country in diverse industries in a wide range of substantive areas.  By way of example, Mr. Ebert has

• Recovered approximately $1,000,000 for a client from a Teamster pension fund in a sophisticated ERISA withdrawal liability dispute arising out of a strike and decertification

• Successfully bargained with the United Auto Workers the decision and effects of a plant closing that impacted a unit of over 1000 workers

• Coordinated the strike planning for a national client with facilities in 9 states related to the renegotiation of a national agreement with the Steelworkers Union

• Successfully defended the first ADA reasonable accommodation case to reach the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals

• Successfully persuaded the National Labor Relations Board to reverse the unit determination of a Regional Director in a precedent-setting case involving a health care system with multiple hospitals

• Established precedent favorable to employers under the Indiana wage payment statutes in a suit to collect bonuses decided by the Indiana Supreme Court

• Obtained an order from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals which vacated an arbitration award that would have required a closed foundry to reopen and rehire its previous Teamster-represented workforce

• Achieved a defense verdict in a jury trial under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act where the decision maker hand wrote the ages of candidates on their employment applications

Honors and Awards

• Fellow, College of Labor and Employment Lawyers

• Best Lawyers in America (1995 to date)

• Best Lawyers 2011, 2012 and 2014 Indianapolis Labor and Employment Lawyer of the Year

• Chambers USA America’s Leading business Lawyers, Eminent Practitioner (2005 to date)

• Recipient, Distinguished Barrister Award by The Indiana Lawyer (2007)

• Fellow, Indiana Bar Foundation

• Indiana Super Lawyer (2004-2013)

• The International Who's Who of Management Labour & Employment Lawyers (2013, 2014)

• Legal 500: Labor and Employment - Labor - Management Relations

• The Nation's 100 Most Powerful Employment Lawyers - Human Resource Executive(2013, 2014)

Professional Activities

• American Bar Association (Standing Committee on Continuing Education of the bar, 1997-2000; Section of Tort and Insurance Practice, Chair, Communication Coordinating Group, Past Chair-Elect, Employer-Employee Relations Committee, past Chair, National Programs, past Chair, CLE Board; Member, Litigation and Labor and Employment Law Sections)

• Indiana State Bar Association (Council Member, Labor Law Section; Labor Law Section, Chair 1988)

Admitted to Practice

• Indiana

Practice Groups

• Traditional Labor Relations
• Employment Law
• Litigation
• Wage and Hour