Kelly M. Woodward

Overview

Kelly brings more than 20 years of experience in the public sector and higher education environments, including advising on labor and employment law, workplace investigations and human resources policy.

Her practice centers on helping clients manage a broad spectrum of labor and employment matters, including collective bargaining, employee discipline, policy development and compliance with state and federal laws.

Kelly has played a key role in developing and implementing statewide labor relations strategies, including negotiating and administering contracts covering thousands of employees. With respect to negotiations, Kelly brings significant experience as lead negotiator for statewide bargaining units in both the health care and education sectors. Her work spans wage and hour issues, employee classification systems, workforce planning and civil service structures. She also advises on ADA accommodations, discrimination and harassment, leave laws and legal risk management.

In addition to her labor and employment work, Kelly works with higher education institutions on regulatory compliance, governance and faculty-related policies. She delivers trainings on a variety of labor and employment topics, including progressive discipline, harassment prevention and public records compliance, and provides guidance on Title IX, student and employee rights and institutional policy frameworks.

Kelly has also overseen high-level workplace investigations and advised executive leadership on sensitive employment matters. She has represented public entities in labor arbitrations and administrative proceedings, and has worked closely with policymakers on labor and employment legislation and state-level workforce initiatives.

Clients in both the public and private sectors benefit from Kelly’s ability to apply deep legal and management experience to her advice and counsel. She previously served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Washington State Attorney General’s Office Labor and Personnel Division, as a labor negotiator and Deputy Chief Human Resources Officer for Washington State Human Resources, and held various human resources and compliance roles within higher education institutions.

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