The Prinz Law Firm

The Prinz Law Firm is full-service, woman-owned employment law practice serving both employees and employers. Our employment attorneys are recognized leaders in litigation, business counseling, and workplace investigations and audits. We offer the equivalent of Big Law legal expertise and tenacity while offering reasonable rates and customized client care.

Our work on behalf of corporate clients includes multi-forum litigation of discrimination and harassment claims, non-compete disputes, compensation disagreements, and partnership disputes, among many other challenges. We have experience in state and federal court at both the trial and appellate level, various administrative forums, arbitration proceedings, and mediations. We also provide comprehensive business counseling on employment matters and conduct thorough workplace investigations and audits, empowering businesses to create positive workplace cultures that power teamwork, innovation, and growth.

The Prinz Law Firm has been named a Best Law Firm every year for the past 3 years. Our attorneys boast recognitions by Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers, Leading Lawyers, and Crain’s Chicago Business, among several other awards.

Managing & Equity Partner: Kristen Prinz

Head of Litigation & Equity Partner: Amit Bindra

Number of Other Fee-Earners: 11

Years in Business: 15

Our 360-degree perspective

We are unique in the employment law space, as we represent both individuals and businesses, providing us a 360-degree perspective into employment law litigation and counseling. Our management-side legal services are top-tier, in part because they are informed by our work with individuals. For instance, we know how to aggressively defend against plaintiff lawsuits because we often are precisely the attorneys filing and litigating them—we have represented countless C-suite executives, physicians, attorneys, and other professionals in claims that span the employment gamut. Our experience with individual clients has also positioned us to provide unique counseling to businesses on employee relations, workplace policies, and employment agreements to prevent liability and risk.

Client care and communication

Unlike big box law firms, our attorneys offer attentive client service for each and every legal matter. We take pride in cultivating client relationships marked by trust, professionalism, creativity, and flexibility. Our attention to detail is no less evident in our work: we craft bespoke litigation strategies and professional services packages to meet the needs of businesses, focusing on both their immediate and long-term goals.

We are guided by certain core values

As we help businesses navigate their many challenges, we also strive to be the most efficient business we can be. That’s why we have implemented the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) to best manage our firm. We are guided by certain core values, whether it is in the service we provide our clients or in how we operate internally:

1. We are versatile and adaptable.
2. We are collaborative and team-focused.
3. We challenge ourselves and each other within a growth mindset.
4. We are innovative and courageous.

We use these values as guideposts for all major decisions, including the types of cases we accept, internal hiring and retention, and the firm’s long-term goals.

We are women-owned

Kristen Prinz founded The Prinz Law Firm to provide a different approach to legal representation, one marked by inclusivity and flexibility. The firm is certified as a woman-owned business (WOB) by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). Combined with the fact that it is staffed by a majority of women employees, our firm is sensitive to the particular challenges that women face in the workplace, especially in executive and leadership positions.

We leverage media & produce useful content

In contrast with most law firms that rely on stuffy practices from the past, we are content creators that maintain a consistent media presence. Our firm runs a blog and a podcast, to which all attorneys contribute, active social channels, and a popular digital newsletter, in addition to other networking and business development initiatives. Media appearances by our attorneys (and even paralegals) have established our firm as subject-matter experts and go-to authorities on everything from non-compete agreements to successful negotiations to remote work harassment.

Our firm uniquely handles all types of employment litigation—from the simple to the highly complex—in addition to transactional work, business advising, workplace investigations, and culture audits. Few firms our size can boast such a breadth and depth of experience, and the results to back it up.

Below are the various types of matters our attorneys handle, separated by general practice area.

Litigation

We litigate a wide variety of employment claims, including those concerned with:

• Employment contracts
• Non-competition agreements
• Non-solicitation agreements
• Confidentiality agreements
• Trade secrets
• Breach of fiduciary duty
• Partnership disputes
• Compensation disputes
• Wage & hour violations
• Discrimination
• Harassment
• Retaliation

Transactional matters

We routinely draft and negotiate the following types of contracts and business issues:

• Employment agreements (including non-competition and non-solicitation agreements, confidentiality agreements, trade secrets agreements)
• Preparation of offer letters and other onboarding documentation
• Equity agreements
• Severance agreements
• Employment handbooks
• Business formation documents (e.g., articles of formation, operating agreements, partnership agreements)
• Change in Control (CIC) Agreements
• Services agreements
• Vendor agreements
• Consulting agreements
• Zoning and licensing issues

Business counseling

Our business clients receive tailored advice on the challenges they face, including:

• Hiring and termination advising
• Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs)
• Partnership disputes
• Buying and selling a business
• General counsel work
• Workplace policies & ongoing training
• Workplace communication guidance
• Conflict resolution

Workplace training, investigations, and audits

Our workplace trainers and investigators, as well as our culture lawyers, provide custom-designed services in the following areas:

• Culture and policy training
• Workplace investigations
• Culture and employee relations audits
• Employee classification audits

• Our firm won an expedited appeal to vacate a TRO (temporary restraining order) in a non-compete case, with less than 2 days to finalize our successful appellate brief. We represented a former employee and a new business entity against a lawsuit brought by his former employer to enforce non-compete and non-solicit provisions. As a result of our appeal, the TRO was reversed and vacated, and the non-compete and non-solicit provisions were held to be non-enforceable.
• We obtained 2 TROs and a preliminary injunction on behalf of a company involved in trade secret litigation.
• Our attorneys have successfully resolved claims of unpaid wages and commissions through settlements of over six figures.
• Our office handled a pro bono matter on behalf of immigrants who were trafficked and threatened with being separated from their young son if they attempted to leave. Bringing wage claims and claims under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2003, we won a significant settlement for our clients, enabling to leave their abusers and start a new life with their son.
• Our firm was selected as a special external, independent investigative team to conduct an investigation into a government agency, which we sensitively, thoroughly, and successfully completed.

Kristen Prinz

Kristen Prinz is an employment lawyer, business counselor, and founder of The Prinz Law Firm. She represents corporations, small and mid-sized business owners, senior executives, lawyers, and physicians in a variety of employment and business matters. She is passionate about advocating for her clients’ interests and helping them achieve outcomes consistent with their strategic goals.

Ms. Prinz specializes in reviewing, drafting, and negotiating employment agreements, as well as discrimination and harassment claims. When it becomes necessary, Ms. Prinz effectively and aggressively litigates employment matters, including those that lead to complex litigation. She has litigated before state and federal courts at the trial and appellate level and administrative agencies, including the EEOC. She has obtained a multi-million-dollar verdict for a client on defamation and retaliatory discharge claims.

Ms. Prinz regularly advises clients on negotiation tactics and has presented on negotiations for the LEAD Program of the Executives Club of Chicago, of which she is a member. She also belongs to The Chicago Club, the Economic Club of Chicago, The Chicago Network, and the International Women’s Forum.

Ms. Prinz was selected for inclusion in Crain’s Chicago Business’ List of 50 Most Influential Female Attorneys, and has been named a Best Lawyer, a Leading Lawyer, and a Super Lawyer.

Amit Bindra

Amit Bindra has extensive experience advising C-suite executives, physicians, and hedge fund managers on a variety of employment matters, including negotiating employment and separation agreements. He advises businesses and executives at start-ups, mid-market businesses, Fortune 500 corporations, and privately-held companies to find creative and pragmatic solutions to their legal challenges.

Mr. Bindra is also a specialist on non-compete and non-solicitation agreements. He was the principal drafter of Illinois SB 3430, an amendment to the Illinois Freedom to Work Act that has reformed how non-compete agreements are litigated in the state. His work also focuses on arbitration agreements, trade secret disputes, wage and hour claims, and employment discrimination and whistleblower claims. He has successfully worked on several appeals in Illinois and Indiana.

Mr. Bindra has been recognized as a Best Lawyer and was named an Illinois Rising Star by Illinois Super Lawyers Magazine. He received the Advocate designation from the National Institute for Trial Advocacy, and completed the Crain’s Leadership Training in 2019. He regularly provides continuing legal education for other attorneys, assists executives in developing stronger negotiation skills, and is frequently invited on podcasts to discuss various legal topics.