Ellen Sampson is a member of the Employment Litigation and Counseling practice group. An MSBA Certified Labor and Employment Law Specialist, she has represented public and private sector employers in many administrative and arbitration proceedings, and she has litigated contract, tort and statutory employment law claims at both the trial and appellate levels in state and federal courts. Ellen is also active in counseling clients on employment related issues, including developing handbooks, conducting investigations, and addressing issues arising under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). She has conducted sexual harassment training programs for public and private sector managers, administrators, teachers and employees, and has carried out numerous investigations for public and private sector employers. She served on the firm’s Board of Directors from 2001 to 2007 and currently serves on the firm’s Pro Bono Committee.

Ellen is recognized by her peers in the bar as one of the leading attorneys in employment litigation in Minnesota. Ellen was identified as an outstanding alumna by William Mitchell College of Law during its “Women in Law – 100 Years of Challenge and Change.” She has also been selected for inclusion in the Super Lawyers® list and named among the Top 100 Women Lawyers and the Top 40 Employment Lawyers, among The Best Lawyers in America in the area of labor and employment, and as one of America’s Leading Business Lawyers by Chambers USA.

Ellen is a qualified neutral under Minnesota Rule 114 and regularly mediates employment law disputes. She is a frequent speaker on employment law topics and has served as an adjunct professor at the William Mitchell College of Law.

Professional and Civic Activities

• Former chair, Labor and Employment Law Section, Minnesota State Bar Association
• Member, Board of Directors, Advocates for Human Rights
• Member, Board of Directors, Mount Zion Hebrew Congregation, formerly Co-President
   

• Editor, Wage and Hour Handbook: Federal and Minnesota (Minnesota Continuing Legal Education, 2011)
• Co-Author, “Defamation in Employment Investigations: Bahr v. Boise Cascade Corporation and O’Donnell v. City of Buffalo,” William Mitchell Journal of Law and Practice (2010)
• Co-Author, Discipline and Discharge Handbook, “Chapter 8: Separation Agreements and Releases” (Minnesota Continuing Legal Education, 2010) 

Education

• J.D., cum laude, William Mitchell College of Law
• M.A., Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
       NDEA Title IV Fellow
• B.A., cum laude, Cornell University

Admissions

• State of Minnesota
• State of Wisconsin
• Federal Bar Association