Linda L. Harfst is a partner in the firm. For over eighteen years, she has been practicing primarily in the area of employment and labor law. Since 1993, she has chaired the firm's Labor and Employment section.

Professional Activities and Experience

Ms. Harfst is a member of the National Employment Lawyers Association and also of the Labor and Employment Sections of the State Bar of Wisconsin and the American Bar Association. She is admitted to practice in the Federal District Courts of both the Eastern District of Wisconsin and the Western District of Wisconsin and of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. She is counsel to Madison Teachers, Inc., which represents the employees of the Madison Metropolitan School District. Ms. Harfst is also counsel to SEIU/District 1199W, which represents nurses and other Wisconsin healthcare providers. She represents the Wisconsin Professional Police Association, which represents the employees of law enforcement agencies.

Ms. Harfst frequently represents workers in disability and discrimination claims under state and federal law, including the Wisconsin Fair Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), and the Wisconsin and federal family and medical leave laws ("FMLA"). She regularly assists individuals with long term disability insurance denial appeals. She advises students and their families in securing rights to a free and appropriate public education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and state law.

Ms. Harfst advises clients in all aspects of the employment relationship, including litigating discrimination claims, negotiating and litigating contractual issues, and the negotiation and preparation of agreements related to the beginning and the end of employment relationships, including individual employment contracts, separation or severance agreements, non-compete agreements, and confidentiality agreements.

Publications and Achievements

Ms. Harfst received the AIDS Network 2003 Outstanding Volunteer Attorney Award for her pro bono work on behalf of individuals with HIV/AIDS.

Prior to becoming an attorney, Ms. Harfst was executive director of regional library systems in Minnesota and Ohio, where her responsibilities included personnel management and labor relations. As a librarian and an attorney, Ms. Harfst has been teaching and writing about issues related to labor and employment law for more than 30 years.