Kristen Prinz

Kristen Prinz is an employment lawyer, business counselor, and founder of The Prinz Law Firm.

Kristen represents business owners, senior executives, lawyers, and physicians in matters ranging from employment agreements and non-competes to complex employment disputes. She is passionate about advocating for her clients’ interests and helping them achieve outcomes consistent with their professional goals. Kristen provides clients with innovative and cost-effective solutions to their legal and operational problems, enabling them to fully realize their potential. She has leveraged her litigation and culture management experience to guide clients in implementing employment best practices, effectively training staff, and creating a productive workplace culture.

Kristen has litigated employment law matters before state and federal courts at the trial and appellate level; administrative agencies including the EEOC, the Illinois Department of Human Rights and the Cook County Human Rights Commission; and numerous arbitration panels. She has obtained a multi-million dollar verdict for a client on defamation and retaliatory discharge claims.

Kristen has had numerous successes drafting, enforcing and defeating restrictive covenants in Illinois. Her appellate experience includes helping to advance the law related to non-competition agreements in Illinois by successfully arguing a case before the Third District Appellate Court, defeating a mandatory arbitration provision in the Second District, and successfully protecting a retaliation claim before the Second District. Kristen also successfully limited the applicability of a general release of claims in an employee’s background check on appeal in Indiana.

Kristen has developed a workplace training practice focused on educating businesses and employees on ensuring compliance and creating healthy workplaces. She regularly speaks to business owners, associations, and professionals on topics including workplace policies, workplace culture, harassment and discrimination, and diversity and inclusion. Part of this work includes serving as a mentor to women in the legal profession and counseling professional women on negotiating employment agreements, equity agreements, and restrictive covenants.

In 2020, Kristen assisted businesses though the COVID-19 outbreak on such issues as furloughs, compensation adjustments, work leaves, navigating unemployment insurance claims, and returning employees to payroll. She has helped businesses comply with their harassment training requirements while also focusing on keeping employees safe and engaged throughout the global pandemic.

Kristen is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago, the Chicago Bar Association, the Illinois Bar Association, the American Bar Association, and the National Employment Lawyers Association. She is President-Elect of The International Women’s Forum, Chicago Chapter and serves on the board of the National Sleep Foundation.

Kristen was selected for inclusion in Crain’s Chicago Business’ List of 50 Most Influential Female Attorneys, and has been named a Leading Lawyer by Leading Lawyers, as well as a Super Lawyer for 2020. Kristen received her J.D. with honors from IIT Chicago Kent College of Law and a B.A. in English from the University of Iowa.