Kristin D. Sostowski

Kristin Sostowski is a Director with Gibbons P.C. in Newark, New Jersey, where she is a member of the Employment & Labor Law Department and serves as Team Leader of the firm’s Higher Education practice. Kristin balances her practice between employment litigation and counseling, representing New Jersey and national employers and providing strategic counsel to clients at all phases of the employment relationship.

Known for her tenacious advocacy, strategic approach, and attention to detail, Kristin advises employers regarding compliance with federal and state workplace laws, pre-litigation risk avoidance, and defense of workplace-related disputes. She represents companies and managers in employment litigation in state and federal courts and agencies, with an emphasis on discrimination, harassment, retaliation, whistleblower, and restrictive covenant matters.

Kristin also provides employment law advice to in-house counsel and human resources professionals in a variety of industries, including higher education, technology, pharmaceuticals, financial services, healthcare, and public and nonprofit entities. She regularly advises clients regarding a wide range of employment issues including hiring practices, performance management, and terminations; employee leaves and accommodations; workforce restructuring and reductions in force; workplace investigations; compensation issues, including equal pay; wage and hour and worker classification issues; independent contractor issues; restrictive covenants; executive employment agreements; and employment issues arising from corporate transactions. She also works closely with clients’ in-house counsel and human resources departments to assess and refine their employment practices and develop policies, handbooks, and employment agreements that complement their business needs.

Kristin is listed in the most recent editions of Best Lawyers® for Litigation - Labor and Employment and New Jersey Super Lawyers for Employment & Labor, and has been named a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. She has been named to NJBIZ’s “Best 50 Women in Business” list for 2019. In addition, in 2014, she was named to NJBIZ’s “Forty Under 40” list for her work on behalf of employers, supporting the long-term growth and success of New Jersey businesses, and for her leadership on women attorneys’ issues.

Kristin has for two decades been a passionate advocate for women’s issues, including the advancement of women in the legal profession. She is the current President-Elect of the National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL), the nation’s oldest professional organization devoted to the interests and progress of women lawyers and women’s legal rights. Kristin is also a Trustee of the New Jersey Women Lawyers Association and is active in the Harvard Law School Women’s Alliance.

Education:

Harvard Law School (J.D.)
Executive Board, Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review

Swarthmore College (B.A., with High Honors)
Phi Beta Kappa