Kim Kisner focuses her practice primarily on assisting businesses with employment and human resources matters, contracts, and litigation and, when appropriate, helping two parties craft their own resolution through mediation.
With more than 20 years of legal experience, Kim regularly counsels private and public sector employers in all aspects of the employment relationship, from hiring through termination. She advises clients on employment discrimination issues, workplace and sexual harassment, disability accommodation, Family & Medical Leave Act compliance, employee handbooks, human resource policies and practices, wage and hour issues, use of temporary/leased/contract employees and independent contractors, performance appraisals, workplace investigations, drug and alcohol testing, workplace privacy issues, disciplinary action and termination, reductions in force, employment at-will/wrongful discharge, alternative dispute resolution, employment agreements, restrictive covenants and confidentiality agreements, severance agreements, waivers and releases, and unemployment compensation claims.
On the real estate side, Kim practices in the areas of residential and commercial real estate, representing sellers, purchasers, landlords and tenants in a wide range of transactions including acquisitions, sales, and leases. Kim has represented more than one thousand homeowners in Allegheny County tax assessment appeals and has litigated landlord tenant disputes throughout western Pennsylvania. Kim is a residential real estate investor in the City of Pittsburgh’s Park Place neighborhood, where she resides.
Kim owns and operates Kisner Law Firm, LLC, a Pittsburgh-based firm assisting clients with employment, business, litigation and real estate matters.
Experience
• Kisner Law Firm, LLC
• Tucker Arensberg, P.C.
• Volk, Hellerstedt & Connolly C
Professional Accolades
• Martindale-Hubbell AV Client Rated Attorney
• Best 50 Women in Business (2009), Honored by Former Governor Rendell
• Community Champions (2008), Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
• 40 Under 40 (2006), Pittsburgh Magazine and Pittsburgh Urban Magnet Project (PUMP)
• Anne D. Johnston Award, Junior League of Pittsburgh (2018)
Publications
• “Pittsburgh City Council Pushes Forward On Confidentiality Measure,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (2016)
• “Assessment Appeals Have Recent Mt. Lebanon Home Buyers Up In Arms,” Pittsburgh Tribune Review (2014)
• “Landlord Tenant Eviction Process in Western PA,” Pennsylvania Bar Institute (2014)
• “Thousands Wait for Assessment Appeal Hearings,” Pittsburgh Tribune Review (2013)
• “Human Resources: Employees and Their Benefits,” Allegheny County Bar Association (2009)
• University of Pittsburgh Law Review (Lead Topics Editor)
Community Involvement
• Junior League of Pittsburgh (Volunteer; Former Chair, Designers’ Show House)
Speeches & Presentations
• “Managing Risk in the Workplace,” St. Barnabas Health System Health Executive Institute
• “Buying and Selling a House,” United States’ Bechtel Bettis Power Laboratory
• “Tips and Tricks for the Solo and Small Firm Practitioners,” Allegheny County Bar Association Conference
• “Recent Updates in Employment Law Affecting Nonprofits,” Allegheny County Bar Association Committee on Exempt Organizations
• “Landlord and Tenant Law in Western PA, Real Estate 101,” Pennsylvania Bar Institute
• “The Most Frequently Encountered Landlord Tenant Issues,” Pennsylvania Bar Institute
• “Landlord Tenant Law: How to Prosper in the New Market,” PA Continuing Legal Education
• “Making It Rain: How to Survive/Thrive in a Solo or Small Firm Practice,” Allegheny County Bar Association
• “Commercial & Residential Landlord-Tenant Law,” PA Continuing Legal Education
• “Representing Residential Landlords and Tenants,” Pennsylvania Bar Institute
• “How to Handle Employment Law Issues in Your Own Law Firm,” Allegheny County Bench Bar Conference
• “Using Networking and Social Media to Advance Your Career,” Women in Business, Westmoreland County
• “Human Resources: Employees and Their Benefits,” PA Continuing Legal Education
Professional Memberships
• Pennsylvania Bar Association
• West Virginia Bar Association
• Allegheny County Bar Association (Past Chair, Sole & Small Firm Practitioners Section)
• Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas (Special Landlord/Tenant Arbitration Panel)
• West Virginia Alumni Association, Greater Pittsburgh Chapter (Vice President)
