Profile
Galit Kierkut is a seasoned litigator and advisor to national and international clients in the pharmaceutical, medical device, financial services, hospitality, and health care industries, among others. She also takes on the role of outside general counsel for many of her start-up and growth-stage clients, assembling and leading teams of professionals to seamlessly address her clients’ legal needs.
Galit is also a key member of Greenberg Traurig’s Israel Practice, providing employment counsel to Israeli start up and growth stage clients in their U.S. operations.
Galit practices in the areas of trade secret and non-compete counseling and litigation, employment law, and complex commercial litigation. She is a skilled litigator who is never afraid to champion her client's rights but also works to reach non-litigation solutions when possible. She trains and counsels employers in all employment compliance areas, including reasonable accommodations, anti-harassment and implicit bias and is a frequent writer and speaker on these topics.
Galit has been honored by numerous organizations for her leadership and advocacy for women in the law and has received an award from the New Jersey Commission on Professionalism in the Law in conjunction with the New Jersey Women Lawyers Association. Galit is a past President of the New Jersey Women Lawyers Association and serves as the chair of the Trial Practices Committee of the Executive Committee of the Employment Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association.
Concentrations
- Serving as outside general counsel
- Restrictive covenant drafting, counseling and litigation
- Trade secret litigation
- Employment discrimination counseling and litigation
- Employee leave and accommodation counseling and litigation
- Employment compliance training
- Complex commercial litigation
- Israel practice
- Start-ups
The attorney is providing legal services through and affiliated with Greenberg Traurig, LLP, a New York Limited Liability Partnership. Results may vary depending on your particular facts and circumstances.
Capabilities
Experience
- Lead counsel in trade secret/theft of confidential information case in the District of New Jersey, obtaining preliminary restraints and forensic examination of defendant’s computers.
- Lead counsel representing the sellers of two pharmaceutical companies in trade secret case in the District of New Jersey, won motion to dismiss.
- Lead counsel in trade secret/restrictive covenant case in the District of New Jersey, defending claims of violation of covenants and stealing trade secrets, settled on eve of trial.
- Lead counsel defending physician restrictive covenant case in State Court in New Jersey.
- Lead counsel in several poaching/breach of duty of loyalty/theft of confidential information cases for a client in the telemarketing industry in New Jersey Superior Court, obtaining a TRO and appealing the granting of a motion to dismiss in a matter of first impression in New Jersey.°
- Lead counsel defending modular consultant company and former employees in claims brought by Kullman in the New Jersey Superior Court of breach of duties of loyalty and theft of confidential information relating a major development project in New York City; litigated matter to settlement.°
- Lead counsel in breach of fiduciary duty/theft of confidential information case brought in the District of New Jersey against general counsel in the tabletop industry; represented general counsel and new employer; litigated matter to settlement.°
- Represented individual defendants in breach of restrictive covenant/theft of trade secrets matter in the medical device industry, brought in the District of New Jersey, won motion to dismiss/transfer.°
- Represented new employer in breach of restrictive covenants claim brought by former employer in the banking hardware industry against former employee in District of Georgia.°
- Represented a New Jersey-based insurance company in case against former CFO for theft, recouping stolen funds.°
- Lead counsel defending former hospital CEO in breach of fiduciary duty/fraud claims in the Bayonne Hospital Bankruptcy; litigated to settlement.°
- Serve as multi-disciplinary crisis counsel team lead to national high-end hotel brand on COVID-19 related issues in the areas of employment, insurance, policy drafting, compliance, training, real estate, and governance issues; supervise litigation.
- Serve as outside general counsel for New Jersey healthcare group in areas including corporate, employment, governance, and regulatory.
- Provide employment and accommodation related advice and counsel and serve as team lead for corporate advice and other legal services to international software company.
- Employment counsel to New Jersey-based investment advisory and insurance brokerage firm, providing all employment counseling, litigation, and workplace training.
- Serve as U.S. employment counsel to several Israeli start-up companies in the medical device and fin-tech space, drafting all employment and restrictive covenant/confidential information protection agreements, policies, and lead national team to advise on employment issues.
- Serve as employment counsel to various companies in the real estate development space.
- Served as U.S. employment counsel to non-U.S. based companies in the medical device, food services/packaged goods and bio-tech space; advised on reductions in force and WARN issues and advised and trained on all U.S. compliance issues.°
- Served as outside employment/compliance counsel to large regional dermatology group handling employment, governance, and regulatory matters.°
- Lead counsel in numerous single plaintiff discrimination and harassment cases in state and federal courts and at the EEOC, including sexual harassment, disability discrimination, pregnancy discrimination failure to accommodate, gender and national origin discrimination matters; all litigated to settlements.
- Lead co-counsel in breach of contract and failure to accommodate case brought by former President of medical group against the group, in state court in New Jersey, defended case and brought to a settlement.
- Lead counsel defending a mayor of a large New Jersey city in sexual harassment case; litigated to settlement.°
- Lead counsel defending dental practice in sexual harassment claim in state court in New Jersey; settled on eve of trial.°
- Lead counsel in pregnancy discrimination claim brought against law firm and its partners in state court in New Jersey.°
- Represented law firm in matter of first impression in state court in New Jersey where firm was accused of aiding and abetting sexual harassment by virtue of an investigation; won dismissal.°
- Lead counsel representing the sellers of pharmaceutical companies in the Southern District of New York, defending claims of breach of contract and fraud arising from 880 million dollar purchase and sale agreement.
- Defended fraud claims brought against real estate lender in numerous cases in the District of New Jersey.°
- Defended fraud claims brought against the designers of corporate owned life insurance.°
- Represented real estate company in malpractice claim against former outside counsel and in appeal of first impression where the New Jersey Appellate Division found that attorney was not a "corporate agent" under the New Jersey Business Corporation Act and was therefore not entitled to mandatory indemnification under N.J.S.A. 14A:3-5(4) for legal costs he incurred in defending against the malpractice claim.°
- Part of team representing developer in four-month construction defect and fraud jury trial, resulting in hung verdict and subsequent settlement, acted as second chair during certain witness questioning, responsible for all lay opinion testimony.°
°The above representations were handled by Ms. Kierkut prior to her joining Greenberg Traurig, LLP.
Recognition & Leadership
- Listed, The Best Lawyers in America, Litigation - Labor & Employment; Commercial Litigation, 2013-2024
- Listed, New Jersey Law Journal, "Women Attorneys of the Year," 2022
- Listed, Chambers USA, “New Jersey Labor & Employment,” 2012-2023
- Listed, Legal 500 United States, 2021-2023
- Labor and Employment - Workplace and Employment Counseling, 2022-2023
- Trade Secrets (Litigation and Non-Contentious Matters), 2021 and 2023
- Listed, Super Lawyers magazine, 2009 and 2013-2024
- New Jersey Super Lawyers, “Employment & Labor,” 2013-2024
- New Jersey Super Lawyers, “The Top 50 Women Super Lawyers” 2014-2024
- New Jersey Super Lawyers, “The Top 100 Super Lawyers” 2015-2024
- New Jersey Super Lawyers Rising Stars, Employment & Labor and Business Litigation, 2009
- Listed, Benchmark Litigation, 2020-2024
- "Labor & Employment Star," 2020-2022
- "Litigation Star," 2024
- Honoree, New Jersey Women Lawyers Association, “Women’s Initiative and Leaders in Law (WILL) Platinum Award – Private Sector,” 2018
- Listed, NJBIZ, "Best 50 Women in Business," 2017
- Recipient, New Jersey Commission on Professionalism in the Law and the New Jersey Women Lawyers Association, “Professional Lawyers of the Year Award,” 2011
- Rated, AV Preeminent® 4.4 out of 5.0
A description of the selection methodology for the above awards can be found here. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.
- Executive Board, New Jersey Women Lawyers Association
- Past President
- Nominations Committee
- Fellow, American Bar Foundation
- Board Member, NJLEEP (Law and Education Empowerment Project), 2022-Present
- Member, New Jersey State Bar Association
- Member, Executive Board, Labor & Employment Law Section
- Co-Chair, Employment Trial Practices Subcommittee, Labor & Employment Law Section
- Appointed Privacy Law Committee
- Member, Women in the Profession Section
- Member, Executive Board, Labor & Employment Law Section
- Member, National Association of Women Lawyers
- Member, Advocacy Committee
- Co-Chair, ERA Subcommittee
- Member, Essex County Bar Association
- Past Chair, Task Force on Women in the Profession
- Member of the Board of Directors, University of Pennsylvania Alumni Club, Metro New Jersey
- Editor, New Jersey Labor and Employment Law Quarterly
- Former Member, New Jersey Supreme Court Fee Arbitration Committee
Credentials
Education
- J.D., cum laude, University of Pennsylvania Law School
- B.A., University of Pennsylvania
Admissions
- New Jersey
- New York
- Connecticut
Languages
- Hebrew, Conversational