Deborah P. Kelly

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP

Deborah P. Kelly is a partner in Manatt’s Washington, DC office. Known for her straightforward, “cut-to-the-chase” approach to lawyering, Deborah represents employers in virtually all areas, from multibillion-dollar high tech and financial services companies to nonprofit associations and other law firms. Deborah helps her clients adopt best practices that minimize the risk of litigation. She designs and leads in-person training for boards of directors, managers, human resources professionals and other employees. While these trainings focus on the importance of understanding and preventing discrimination, they are peppered with enough war stories, memorable visuals and humor to make attendees both learn and enjoy the process(!). Her popular workshops address topics such as antidiscrimination (including state-compliant sexual harassment training), wage and hour, and how to handle professional versus private issues around social media. She also counsels boards of directors, including publicly traded companies, about complex C-suite employment matters in a way that deals with the matter without bad publicity or ripple effects on stock value. In litigation, Deborah handles the full gamut of employment matters, including non-competes, trade secret litigation, breach of contract, wage and hour, and all forms of discrimination. Deborah has tried cases to jury verdicts in federal and state courts as well as in arbitration forums.