Katie J. Colopy

With 30 years of experience as an employment attorney and trial lawyer for an impressive array of Fortune 500 companies, Katie Colopy is uniquely qualified to litigate all types of employment cases, from single-plaintiff discrimination cases to nationwide wage-and-hour collective actions. Her trial skills are not limited to the employment field, however, as she has also litigated cases involving claims of product liability, fraud, wrongful death and personal injury, negligence, malicious prosecution, and misrepresentation and suitability by broker-dealers.

In her employment practice, Katie litigates claims involving all aspects of the employment relationship, including employment discrimination, wrongful discharge, benefits issues, wage-and-hour issues, employee misclassification, non-compete covenants, employee raiding, trade secrets, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, defamation and other torts. She also counsels clients on all employment-related matters, in addition to conducting internal investigations and providing employee and management training.

Some of Ms. Colopy’s significant representations include:

• Winning more than $800,000 in sanctions against two former executives of a health care billing services firm for conspiring to pursue a lawsuit based on fabricated evidence.
• Leading the discovery effort on the ground in Liberia, West Africa, to develop a record that lead to the defeat of class certification. Working with defense team to win summary judgment on behalf of an international manufacturer in a closely watched Alien Tort Statute case, which included allegations of child labor. The ruling subsequently was affirmed by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
• Leading the successful defense of an international professional services firm in multiple employment-related disputes brought by former partners and employees.
• Successfully defending an ERISA class action against a major energy services company for allegedly incorrectly calculating pension benefits.
• Resolving an ERISA action brought by independent contractors who alleged they were common law employees entitled to benefits under the company’s benefit plan.
• Working with the defense team representing an international telecommunications company in Guam federal court against allegations of harassment and retaliation brought by 13 individuals.
• Leading the defense team on behalf of a government contractor against claims of personal injury and wrongful death brought by former employees and family members related to services performed in support of the U.S. military in Iraq.
• Representing numerous immigrant mothers and children on a pro bono basis in Immigration Court asylum proceedings.