Timothy M. Kratz is a shareholder and director of the firm whose primary practice involves employment litigation, employer counseling, and commercial litigation. He has represented clients in a wide variety of employment matters including trade secret and non-compete disputes, Fair Labor Standards Act issues, harassment and discrimination claims, wage disputes, and public policy discharge claims. Tim also advises clients on ways to avoid litigation through protective measures such as employment contracts, supervisor manuals, and employee handbooks. He additionally assists clients in drafting and negotiating executive level employment contracts and severance packages, as well as non-compete, confidentiality, and trade secret agreements.

Before starting in private practice, Tim served as a law clerk to Chief Judge Donald P. Lay of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and Justice Gregory K. Scott of the Supreme Court of Colorado.

Email: tkratz@penberg.com

   

Admitted to Practice
Colorado and California; U.S. District Court, District of Colorado; U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit

Publications and Speeches
T. Kratz, The End of Individual Liability Under the Colorado Wage Act, 52 Trial Talk 5, August/September 2003 :: Download the article here ::

T. Kratz, "Love, Work and Laws," Colorado Journal Employment and Labor Law Supplement, April, 1998

El Paso County Bar Association Employment Law Section; Lecturer, April, 1997

Recent Developments in Colorado Employment Law--the Death of At-Will Employment

Colorado Springs Employer Academy ("HR 2000") Lecturer, 1995-97

The Equal Pay Act and the Problem of Defining Equal Pay for Equal Pay Work

The Legal Triple Bind: Off-Premises Activity, Sexual Harassment, and the Spousal Discrimination Statute

Assessing Risks of Civil Rights Claims

The Public Policy Theory of Wrongful Discharge

Independent Contractors--Salvation or Pipe Dream

Workers Compensation Information and Physical Exams in the Hiring Process

Taming the Monster--A Comprehensive Look at Managing Workers' Compensation Costs

E-mail Snooping and Employer Eavesdropping in the Workplace

Polygraph Testing in the Workplace

Professional Activities
Denver Bar Association, Law and Education Committee, Sports Committee; Colorado Bar Association; Colorado Trial Lawyers Association; Colorado Lawyers Committee, Hate/Violence Task Force; California Bar Association (inactive); American Bar Association, Labor and Employment Section, Litigation Section; American Bar Association, Litigation & Labor and Employment Section, member

Education
1991, J.D., Hastings College of the Law, San Francisco, California
Summer Study Abroad, Aix-en-Provence, France, 1989
1987, B.S., Journalism, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado

Honors and Distinctions
Served as a law clerk to Justice Gregory K. Scott, Supreme Court of Colorado, 1993-1994; Served as a law clerk to Chief Judge Donald P. Lay, United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, 1991-1992