About

Andrea R. Kramer learned her trade as an employment and labor lawyer in the trenches. For her first nearly two decades in practice, she was in-house counsel for a Fortune 100 company and its subsidiaries with a combined workforce of over 135,000 employees. Ultimately rising to the position of Assistant General Counsel of the parent company, Andrea represented the organization and advised senior management in all employment legal matters. This fact distinguishes her from lawyers who have spent their entire careers in private practice and enables her to provide real added value to her clients.

Since the mid-1990’s, Andrea has brought her understanding of the intersection of law and business to her private practice. She knows how corporate and nonprofit workplaces function. She recognizes the interconnectedness of decision-making and operations, providing holistic advice and counsel based on subject matter knowledge and practical wisdom. Andrea advises her clients in context; she appreciates how legal decisions influence the conduct and mission of an organization. This also translates into significant benefits for Andrea’s individual executive clients.

While in-house, Andrea:

• represented American Stores and its subsidiaries in anti-discrimination charges and labor relations dispute resolution, investigating more than 500 complaints of discrimination and appearing on behalf of the companies before administrative agencies

• supervised outside counsel and managed all labor, employment, and benefits litigation

• developed and implemented Human Resources and personnel policies

• fashioned management responses to all employee disputes

• directed senior HR managers and supervised EEO officers

• served as internal mediator, trouble-shooter, and ombudsman

• provided employment law advice as part of the senior management team

• sat as a management trustee on various Taft-Hartley multi-employer Health and Welfare, Pension, and Legal Services Funds

Representative Speeches and Articles

• Hiring Employees and Selecting Volunteers; Fifteenth Annual Nonprofit Institute, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, 2017.
• Employment Law and Volunteers; Nonprofit Volunteers Program, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, 2016.
• The Life Cycle of a Nonprofit Employee; Fourteenth Annual Nonprofit Institute, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, 2016.
• Corporate Governance: Managing the Board/Board Chair and Executive Director Relationship; Thirteenth Annual Nonprofit Institute, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, 2015.
• Recent Developments in Employment Law; Business Leadership Forum, 2014.
• Employment Law Fundamentals; Business Leadership Forum, 2013.
• Drafting Severance Agreements: Tips and Traps; course planner and moderator, Law Seminars International TeleBriefing, 2012.
• Updating Employee Manuals: Doing It Right; ALI-ABA live video webcast, 2012.
• Employee Manuals 101: Drafting for Success; ALI-ABA live video webcast, 2012; several re-broadcasts
• Executive Employment Agreements and Executive Compensation; Ninth Annual Nonprofit Institute, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, 2011.
• Managing Parent/Affiliate Relations and Risk; 2010 Risk Management & Finance Summit, Nonprofit Risk Management Center, 2010.
• Best Practices in Managing Reductions-in-Force; Eighth Annual Nonprofit Institute, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, 2010.
• Managing Volunteers: Nuts & Bolts of Managing Your Unpaid Staff; Seventh Annual Nonprofit Institute, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, 2009.
• The Internet, Email, and Privacy in the Workplace; Philadelphia Bar Association, Business Law Committee, 2000.
• Practice Before the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission: The Respondent Attorney’s Perspective; Pennsylvania Bar Institute, 1999.