Leah K. Sell
Associate
Leah Sell is an Associate with Leech Tishman and a member of the firm’s Employment & Labor Practice Group, as well as the Start-up Services Group. She is also a member of the Life Sciences Industry Group. Based in Leech Tishman’s Pittsburgh office, Leah regularly advises clients in the areas of employment counseling and defense and corporate transactions.
Leah provides counseling and advice to human resources professionals, managers, and owners on a variety of complex employment law matters to improve and protect the workplace. She enjoys getting to know her clients and their businesses, from conception through exit, working with them to develop and protect their interests and assets. Leah regularly analyzes complex regulations to provide risk analysis and liability limiting solutions. She helps employers navigate complex hour and wage, leave, accommodation, harassment, discrimination and safety matters – including cannabis in the workplace. Leah manages employment matters in corporate transactions including due diligence and advice on a myriad of employment issues from WARN and successor liability to negotiating and drafting of relevant terms of purchase and key employment agreements.
Leah regularly counsels private 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.
She is experienced in negotiating and drafting employment agreements, restrictive covenants, employment policies and handbooks, as well as separation, release and settlement agreements.
Leah successfully represents clients in state and federal court, arbitration, mediation and agency proceedings.
Academics
J.D., University of Pittsburgh School of Law, Dean’s Scholarship Awardee
B.S. in Organizational Communication, cum laude, Ohio University Scripps College of Communication
Admissions
Pennsylvania
U.S. District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania
Experience
Allegheny County Bar Association (Council Member, Women in the Law Division Council; Former Member, Young Lawyers’ Division Wills for Heroes Program; Council Member, Corporate Banking)
Kisner Law Firm, LLC
U.S. District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania (Judicial Intern for the Honorable Nora Barry Fischer)
Professional Memberships
Allegheny County Bar Association (Member, Women in the Law Division Council; Member, Young Lawyers’ Division Wills for Heroes Program; Member, Corporate Banking and Business Law Section)
Women’s Bar Association of Western Pennsylvania (Past Treasurer; Former Co-Chair of Finance)
Society for Human Resources Management (Member)
Pitt Law Women’s Association (Past President)
Presentations
Out of Sight Not Out of Mind: Remote Work Employment Law – Pittsburgh Human Resource Association (December 2020)
2020 Employment Law Month Panel – Pittsburgh Human Resource Association (December 2020)
Discrimination and Harassment – National Business Institute (August 2020)
Disciplining and Firing Employees – National Business Institute (August 2020)
FLSA Essentials: Practically Applying the Most Recent Legal Perspective- National Business Institute (February 2020)
Clearing the Air: Medical Marijuana Emerging Issues in Employment Law – Pennsylvania Bar Institute (November 2018)
Risk Management: Dealing with Sex, Drugs and Money in the Workplace – Health Excellence Institute (April 2018)
Professional Accolades
Super Lawyers
Pennsylvania Rising Star, Pennsylvania Super Lawyers Magazine (2019-2023)
Certifications & Designations
SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP)
Publications
“Surviving Social Media: An Employer’s Guide,” Lawyers Journal of Allegheny County Bar Association (2016)
“New Ethics Rule Clears the Air On Med-marijuana Question,” Lawyers Journal of Allegheny County Bar Association (2016)
University of Pittsburgh Law Review (Senior Managing Editor)
JURIST (Associate Editor)
Community Involvement
Humane Animal Rescue