Overview

Kristine Grady Derewicz has spent her career counseling and advocating on behalf of employers. Kris excels at working with clients to solve problems and to ensure legal compliance. While her client relationships are diverse in terms of size, scope, and industry, she works extensively with healthcare employers and institutes of higher education. Kris has worked with clients on a broad variety of matters, ranging from advice on navigating the practical implementation of legal requirements in the day-to-day workplace to labor relations issues to jury trials in state and federal courts.

Substantively, Kris has experience in many areas of labor and employment law, including discrimination, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). She has mediated and arbitrated dozens of cases, tried numerous matters in jury and bench trials, and provides advice on a myriad of matters on a daily basis. Kris has worked with clients on NLRA issues, including ULP investigations and trials; corporate transactions involving union accretions, successor employers, and related concerns; collective bargaining negotiations; representation petitions; and arbitrations related to both contract interpretation and employee discipline. 

Kris is currently a member of the firm’s Board of Directors. She served on Littler's firm-wide Management Committee from 2018 through 2023, following her role as the office managing shareholder of the Philadelphia office. One of the Philadelphia office's founding members, Kris has also served on the firm's Associates Committee, the Client Investment Management Committee, and the Nominating Committee. She represents a number of Philadelphia-based social service agencies on a pro bono basis, and she serves on the boards of several Philadelphia-based nonprofit organizations.

Professional & Community Affiliations

Member

National Association of College and University Attorneys

2008-present

Member, Board of Directors

Uplift Center for Grieving Children

2015-present

Chair, Board of Directors

Uplift Center for Grieving Children

2019-present

Member, Board of Directors

La Salle Academy

2015-present

Recognition

Named, The Best Lawyers in America®

2012-2024

Named, Lawyer of the Year

Philadelphia

The Best Lawyers in America©

2020, 2024

Ranked, Labor & Employment

Chambers USA

2015-2023

Awarded, AV® Peer Review Rating

Martindale-Hubbell

News, Analysis & Press

Equal Pay for Women: Still Waiting?

The American Law Journal

October 24, 2016

A Major Change in Overtime Rules

Philadelphia Business Journal

July 13, 2016

Female Lawyers Less Than a Third of Pa. Law Firm Rosters

Legal Intelligencer

December 7, 2012

Labor Management Relations Update

Littler Mendelson – The Executive Employer

April 2010

Speaking Engagements

2023 Philadelphia Regional Employer Conference

Philadelphia, PA

October 27, 2023

2022 Philadelphia Regional Employer Conference

Philadelphia, PA

October 28, 2022

Evaluating, Settling and Trying Sex Discrimination and Sexual Harassment Cases in the #MeToo Era

Pennsylvania Bar Institute

April 24, 2019

Strategic Trial Decisions: Perspectives from Counsel and the Court

Pennsylvania Bar Institute

April 26, 2018

Realistic Expectations from the NLRB: Reversal of Obama Labor Policies, Business as Usual or Something in Between?

The 2017 Executive Employer® Conference

May 11, 2017

Goldilocks’s Settlement Conference: What Is “Just Right” for Your Case?

Pennsylvania Bar Institute

April 27, 2017

Gender Pay Equity - Women Still Waiting in the Legal Profession?

The American Law Journal, WFMZ-TV, Philadelphia, PA

October 24, 2016

Roundtable Discussion: Best Practices for Effective Communication and Collaboration Among HR, Legal and the Business People

Philadelphia, PA

October 18, 2016

What Retailers Need to Know About Labor Developments and Union Organizing Strategies

December 8, 2011

The Employee from Hell

Philadelphia, PA

November 15, 2011

The 360 Degree Evaluation of an Employment Case

Pennsylvania Bar Institute

April 2011

Top Eleven Trends to Watch for 2011

Association of Corporate Counsel, DELVACCA Chapter

March 2011

Labor Arbitration Advocacy Case Preparation

American Arbitration Association

June 2010

A Brand New (Work)Day? Workplace Change in the Obama Era — What the Current Administration and Congress May Have in Store for Employers

May 13, 2009

Employer Mandated Wellness Initiatives: The Continuum from Voluntary to Mandatory Plans

Pennsylvania Bar Institute

March 2009

Injury Prevention and Wellness Programs: Benefits v. Liabilities

Pennsylvania Bar Institute

April 2008

Enforceable Release Agreements - Still Possible?

March 12, 2008

Who Is Entitled to Overtime Pay? Exemptions from the FLSA

Pennsylvania Bar Institute

December 2007

Internal Investigations of Your Senior Executives

October 19, 2005

Education

  • J.D., University of Pennsylvania Law School, 1990
  • B.A., La Salle University, 1987magna cum laude

Bar Admission

Pennsylvania
New Jersey

Courts

  • U.S. Court of Appeals, 3rd Circuit
  • Pennsylvania Supreme Court
  • New Jersey Supreme Court
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania
  • U.S. District Court, Middle District of Pennsylvania
  • U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey