Jennifer G. Lepentis

Experience

Jennifer helps employers stay compliant and competitive through proactive, practical counsel in partnership with her clients across a diverse range of industries. 

Labor and Employment: Jennifer handles the full range of employment and workplace matters, including advising on risk management, litigation avoidance, policies and protocols, compensation structures, contractual arrangements, corporate restructuring, employment separations, mergers and acquisition employment risks, preventative training, complex internal investigations, restrictive covenants, culture development, regulatory investigations, administrative actions, dispute resolution, crisis management, and advises on employment individual and class-action litigation. In addition to her legal experience, Jennifer carries both the Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP) accreditation through the Society for Human Resource Management and the Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certification through the Human Resource Certification Institute.

Payments and Prepaid Instruments: Jennifer also maintains a specialized practice in payments and prepaid instruments, with particular depth in regulatory compliance for stored value card products and unclaimed property analysis. She serves clients across an international network of more than 2,000 individuals and companies, including the Retail Gift Card Association and the Incentive Gift Card Council.

In-House Perspective: Jennifer spent nearly two decades as in-house counsel, earning firsthand knowledge on how businesses operate and what legal challenges look like from within an organization. Her tenure at Waddell & Reed Financial, Inc., a publicly traded financial services company, encompassed enterprise risk management, corporate governance, board and investor relations, and guiding the company through significant legal and business challenges. She brings that operational experience to bear in private practice, approaching every client matter with a strategic understanding of the business realities behind the legal questions she is asked to answer.

Areas of Practice

• Employment & Workplace
• Payments & Prepaid Instruments
• Business Law

Areas of Experience

• Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
• Application of State and Federal Consumer Protection Laws
• DEI Initiatives
• Employee Relations
• Employment Agreements
• Employment Policies
• Equal Pay Act (EPA)
• Executive Compensation
• Executive Employment Agreements
• Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
• Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
• General Counsel Services
• Gift Card and Prepaid Card Regulatory Compliance
• Giftco Setup and Maintenance
• Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (INA)
• Internal Investigations
• Leave Management
• Mergers and Acquisition Employment Matters
• Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA)
• Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA)
• Preventative Employment Law Training
• Reductions in the Workforce
• Regulatory Investigations
• Reorganizations and Corporate Restructuring
• Restrictive Covenants
• Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX)
• Severance Agreements
• Termination of Employment 
• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII)
• Unclaimed Property and Escheat Banking and Finance
• Wage & Hour Compliance
• Whistleblower Protections
• Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN)

Professional Licenses

• Society for Human Resource Management – Senior Certified Professional Certification, 2015
• Human Resources Certification Institute, Senior Professional in Human Resources Certification, 2015
• Formerly Series 7 Licensed – General Securities Registered Representative

Activities and Memberships

• American Bar Association
• Kansas Bar Association
• Missouri Bar
• The Pembroke Hill School, Past Parents Association Executive Council Member and Theatre Arts Parent Director
• University of Kansas Alumni Association
• Former Federal Law Clerk, United States District Court for the District of Kansas
• Past Member, Board of Directors and Joint Underwriting & Risk Management Committees, ICI Mutual Insurance Company
• Past President, Board of Directors, Mattie Rhodes Center (focused on community social services, behavioral health counseling and the arts)
• Rock the Street Wall Street, Classroom Instructor (offering financial and investment literacy for high school girls)