Jean is an exceptional litigator who has an unparalleled expertise in employment law, but what makes her truly invaluable is her command of the intricate details of our business. She is our trusted advisor and advocate.
Jean Kuei, Pillsbury’s Labor & Employment Practice Group leader, is an experienced employment attorney representing corporate employers in the firm’s Washington, DC, and San Francisco offices. Jean is known not only for her employment litigation skills but also for her ability to resolve complex, high-stakes workplace disputes effectively and creatively. Jean also serves as a leading member of the firm’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) Litigation and Investigations practice, responding to activist shareholder proposals, conducting race and pay equity audits and advising on issues of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
Jean’s litigation experience covers a diverse range of employment charges and cases, from single or multi-plaintiff retaliation, discrimination, harassment and whistleblower matters to large wage and hour class, collective and PAGA representative actions. She has obtained defense verdicts at trials and at arbitration hearings and resolved several matters on dispositive motions in both court and arbitration. Jean has also served as a hearing officer to the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, which is the central support entity for the federal judicial branch.
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Jean guides employers through the interplay of complex federal and state employment laws in addition to providing strategic advice on a broad range of issues, including artificial intelligence, privacy, affirmative action, disparate impact, reductions in force, performance management, restrictive covenants, trade secrets, breach of contract and unfair competition. She assists with crisis management, conducts management training, leads global investigations, negotiates employment and severance agreements, and regularly lectures and authors articles on employment-related topics. Jean also serves as a trusted advisor to trade associations, nonprofit organizations, small businesses and global Fortune 50 companies across a wide array of industries, including the energy and technology, financial, medical device, pharmaceutical and retail sectors.
Jean has been recognized as a Super Lawyer in California and a Best Lawyer in the District of Columbia in labor and employment law. In addition, Jean has been recognized as a BTI Client Service All-Star, which draws solely on in-depth, unsolicited feedback from top legal decision makers at large corporations as part of BTI’s ongoing Annual Survey of General Counsel. As a pragmatic and persuasive attorney, some of Jean’s clients have given her the moniker “Plaintiff’s whisperer.”
Jean is committed to diversity and community service. In addition to her role on various firm management and DEI committees, she also serves on the Alumni Executive Council of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity and on the Board of Directors for Friends of Forensics. In 2021 and 2022, Jean partnered with Otsuka America Pharmaceutical Inc. to help develop and staff an in-house diversity accelerator program. Otsuka’s program won the 2021 In-House Innovator Award with the Association of Corporate Counsel for the National Capital Region. Jean was also a recipient of the Greater Washington Urban League’s President’s Award for exemplary legal, community and pro bono service.
In 2015 and 2018, Jean served as a secondee to the HR Law Group of JPMorgan Chase & Co.
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Education
J.D., Georgetown University Law Center, 2003
Staff Editor, Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law & Policy; Gourley Mock Trial Team Member
B.A., University of California, Berkeley, 2000
summa cum laude; Phi Beta Kappa
Admissions
District of Columbia
California
Courts
All State and Federal Courts, District of Columbia
All State and Federal Courts, California
Languages
Chinese (Mandarin)
