Overview
Kristen’s practice involves working with clients facing high-stakes litigation, regulatory, and reputational issues, taking an enterprise-wide approach to advising and advocating for large companies and their owners.
In her litigation practice, Kristen has represented companies and their officers and directors in a variety of matters in state and federal court, including lawsuits alleging breaches of fiduciary duties, trade secret violations, and litigation arising out of commercial contracts and transactions. Kristen also has considerable experience representing clients in civil litigation and against governmental agencies, primarily related to ERISA, with a focus on matters involving ESOPs and complex valuation disputes.
Her regulatory practice includes representing clients that are the subject of government inquiries and during internal investigations and white-collar criminal defense matters. Kristen represents major financial institutions responding to global governmental investigations, and she has assisted clients in matters before the Department of Justice (Main Justice and U.S. Attorney’s Offices), SEC, CFTC, the United Kingdom FCA, the European Commission, and the Japan Fair Trade Commission. Kristen also has substantive experience representing and advising clients during investigations by the Department of Labor related to ERISA. As part of her regulatory and compliance advisory experience, she also assists clients with corporate governance matters and other regulatory compliance issues.
Representative Experience
White Collar and Regulatory
- Represented financial services client during global investigations related to trading practices
- Represented a client in a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into Medicaid fraud
- Represented a client in a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into potential public corruption
ESOPs
- Representing board of directors and company executives in putative ERISA class action related to sale of ESOP company (W.D. Wis. Ongoing)
- Representing ESOP trustee in defense of ERISA breach of fiduciary duty and prohibited transaction claims in federal district (N.D. Ill. Ongoing)
- Representing clients in investigations by the Department of Labor related to ESOP transactions
Notable
Notable
- North Carolina Super Lawyers "Rising Star", 2021
- North Carolina Pro Bono Honor Society, 2019
News
News
Insights
Blogs and Resources
Blog Posts
Capabilities
- Antitrust
- Civil Litigation
- Class Actions
- Criminal Defense - Trial and Appellate
- Cross-Border Investigations and Defense
- Employee Benefits & Compensation
- ERISA & ESOP
- Health Care
- Internal Investigations
- Investigations
- Litigation, Regulatory & White Collar
- Securities & Capital Markets Litigation
- Trust, Estate, Tax & Fiduciary Disputes
- White Collar & Government Enforcement Defense
Education
B.A., Butler University, 2011, Cum Laude; Phi Beta Kappa
J.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2015, with high honors; Order of the Coif
Admissions
- North Carolina, 2015
- All Federal District Courts in North Carolina, 2016
- 4th Circuit Court of Appeals