Kimberly J. Kisner
Partner
Kim Kisner is a Partner with Leech Tishman, and a member of the firm’s Employment & Labor, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Litigation and Real Estate Practice Groups. Based in Leech Tishman’s Pittsburgh office, Kim focuses her practice primarily on assisting businesses with employment and human resources matters, conducting internal investigations, representing employers in Department of Labor wage and hour audits, and litigating employment and wage and hour cases.
With more than 20 years of legal experience, Kim regularly counsels private, public and non-profit employers in all aspects of the employment relationship, from hiring through termination. She advises clients on employment discrimination issues, workplace and sexual harassment, disability accommodation, Family & Medical Leave Act compliance, employee handbooks, human resource policies and practices, wage and hour issues, use of temporary employees and independent contractors, performance appraisals, workplace investigations, drug and alcohol testing, workplace privacy issues, disciplinary action and termination, reductions in force, employment at-will/wrongful discharge, alternative dispute resolution, employment agreements, restrictive covenants and confidentiality agreements, severance agreements, waivers and releases, and unemployment compensation claims.
On the real estate side, Kim practices in the areas of residential and commercial real estate, representing sellers, purchasers, landlords and tenants in a wide range of transactions including acquisitions, sales, and leases. Kim has represented more than one thousand homeowners in Allegheny County tax assessment appeals and has litigated landlord tenant disputes throughout western Pennsylvania. Kim is a residential real estate investor in the City of Pittsburgh’s Park Place neighborhood, where she resides.
Kim also has experience in the field of alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”). She regularly serves as a mediator and early neutral evaluator in employment, real estate, estates & trusts disputes, and family business disputes and can be retained by private parties prior to litigation. Kim has also been appointed as a neutral for the ADR program in the Western District of Pennsylvania.
Kim provides private conflict resolution services to employers involving internal disputes between employees, managers, executives, business partners and shareholders. She also assists employers with designing, training and implementing internal conflict resolution processes in their organizations.
For more than a decade, Kim has served as a specially appointed arbitrator for landlord/tenant cases in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas and provides conflict resolution services for real estate disputes including, but not limited to, mediation pursuant to the REALTORS Standard Agreement for Sale of Real Estate.
Prior to joining Leech Tishman, Kim owned and operated Kisner Law Firm, LLC, a Pittsburgh-based firm assisting clients with employment, business, litigation and real estate matters.
Academics
J.D., University of Pittsburgh School of Law
B.A. in Political Science, summa cum laude, West Virginia University
Court Admissions
Pennsylvania
West Virginia
U.S. District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania
Experience
Kisner Law Firm, LLC
Tucker Arensberg, P.C.
Volk, Hellerstedt & Connolly C
Professional Memberships
Pennsylvania Bar Association
West Virginia Bar Association
Allegheny County Bar Association (Past Chair, Sole & Small Firm Practitioners Section)
Society for Human Resource Management
Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas (Special Landlord/Tenant Arbitration Panel)
West Virginia Alumni Association, Greater Pittsburgh Chapter (Vice President)
U.S. District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania (Neutral)
Professional Accolades
Martindale-Hubbell AV Peer Rated Attorney
Martindale-Hubbell AV Client Rated Attorney
Best 50 Women in Business (2009), Honored by Former Governor Rendell
Community Champions (2008), Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
40 Under 40 (2006), Pittsburgh Magazine and Pittsburgh Urban Magnet Project (PUMP)
Anne D. Johnston Award, Junior League of Pittsburgh (2018)
Speeches & Presentations
“Managing Risk in the Workplace,” St. Barnabas Health System Health Executive Institute
“Buying and Selling a House,” United States’ Bechtel Bettis Power Laboratory
“Tips and Tricks for the Solo and Small Firm Practitioners,” Allegheny County Bar Association Conference
“Recent Updates in Employment Law Affecting Nonprofits,” Allegheny County Bar Association Committee on Exempt Organizations
“Landlord and Tenant Law in Western PA, Real Estate 101,” Pennsylvania Bar Institute
“The Most Frequently Encountered Landlord Tenant Issues,” Pennsylvania Bar Institute
“Landlord Tenant Law: How to Prosper in the New Market,” PA Continuing Legal Education
“Making It Rain: How to Survive/Thrive in a Solo or Small Firm Practice,” Allegheny County Bar Association
“Commercial & Residential Landlord-Tenant Law,” PA Continuing Legal Education
“Representing Residential Landlords and Tenants,” Pennsylvania Bar Institute
“How to Handle Employment Law Issues in Your Own Law Firm,” Allegheny County Bench Bar Conference
“Using Networking and Social Media to Advance Your Career,” Women in Business, Westmoreland County
“Human Resources: Employees and Their Benefits,” PA Continuing Legal Education
Publications
“Coming Up on Six Months of Temporary Layoffs, Some Businesses Might Need to Change How They Report Job Losses,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (2020)
“Pittsburgh City Council Pushes Forward On Confidentiality Measure,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (2016)
“Thousands Wait for Assessment Appeal Hearings,” Pittsburgh Tribune Review (2013)
“Attorneys Weigh In On Super Bowl Ticket Disaster,” KDKA News (2011)