Kelly S. Hughes

Practice Groups: Employment Law, Higher Education, Leaves of Absence/Reasonable Accommodation, Workplace Investigations and Organizational Assessments

Industry Groups: Retail

Kelly Hughes, who is Board Certified in Employment Law, has spent her career advising and supporting private and public employers across numerous industries, including manufacturing, pharmaceutical, chemical, energy, construction, hospitality, automotive, computer/software, retail, real estate, and biotech. She also has significant experience representing local governments, religious organizations, private schools, colleges, and universities.

Kelly focuses her practice on assisting clients with avoiding litigation by providing sound counseling advice and assisting with complicated workplace investigations. Kelly also regularly assists clients through administrative charges and litigation in all forums, including federal and state court and arbitration.

In addition, Kelly is a nationally-recognized authority on workplace flexibility and guides clients in creating and/or enhancing workplace flexibility tools (such as remote work and flexible scheduling) in a manner that balances the business needs of the client with the various employment laws that may be implicated. She co-authored the book Workflex: The Essential Guide to Effective and Flexible Workplaces as well as the Workflex and Employment Law Pocket Guide for SHRM’s “When Work Works” initiative. Kelly is an entertaining, sought-after speaker, and frequently travels around the country conducting training and delivering presentations on cutting-edge employment law topics, as well as mental health issues in the legal profession.

In collaboration with the North Carolina Bar Employment Law Specialization Committee, Kelly helped draft the employment law specialization exam for North Carolina attorneys.

Within Ogletree, Kelly is Co-Chair of the Retail Industry Group and is a member of the Litigation Practice Group, the Workplace Investigations and Organizational Assessments Practice Group, and the Higher Education Practice Group. Kelly served as Co-Chair of the firm’s Business Resource Group, ODFamily, for several years and is currently serving as a member of the firm’s Well-Being Working Group.

Kelly received her undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University and her law degree from the University of Miami.

American Bar Association

North Carolina Association of Municipal Attorneys

North Carolina Bar Association

Mecklenburg County Bar Association

Society for Human Resource Management

Defense Research Institute