Minneapolis, MN - Nichols Kaster was recently recognized by The National Law Journal, for its place in the publication’s 2012 Litigation Boutiques Hot List. Citing the firm’s “satisfaction in sticking up for the little guy,” the National Law Journal found Nichols Kaster to be among 10 boutique firms across the country that excel in the courtroom.
Steven Andrew Smith, a partner at Nichols Kaster, accepted the award on behalf of the firm at the June 28th awards dinner. Smith stated, “We are deeply dedicated to advancing the rights of employees and consumers who corporate America has treated unfairly, and are honored to have been selected as one of the top litigation boutique firms in the country.”
Nichols Kaster made the national news in 2011, for partner James H. Kaster’s win at the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of client Kevin Kasten. Kasten, a factory worker at Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp., sued the company for refusing to pay workers for their time spent putting on and taking off work-related protective equipment. Kasten also filed a retaliation action regarding his termination for making repeated oral complaints about the placement of time clocks. After appealing the lower court’s decision that his oral complaint was not protected under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the U.S. Supreme Court found in favor of Kasten, holding that “an oral complaint of a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act is protected conduct under the [Act’s] anti-retaliation provision.”
Smith with Stephen Lincoln, Publisher, The National Law Journal
In 2011, Nichols Kaster also successfully represented a client in one of the first ADA cases to go to trial after the 2008 amendments to the ADA. Moreover, the firm has taken on industries that repeatedly fail to pay their workers minimum-wage, including lawsuits on behalf of exotic dancers and pizza delivery drivers, and is also credited with being the first to challenge a practice within the banking industry known as forced-placed insurance.
What started as Donald Nichols’ sole practitioner firm in 1974, has grown to a firm of more than thirty attorneys, with offices in Minneapolis and San Francisco. The firm represents individuals in employment matters, and classes in employment, wage and hour, and consumer fraud matters.