Allen S. Kinzer

Allen is a partner in the Vorys Columbus office and a member of the labor and employment practice group.  Allen has successfully defended employers in wage and hour class actions and counseled employers through collective bargaining, strikes and picketing by unions.  He has represented employers across the country, defending discrimination suits and advising employers on union issues.  Allen has also successfully represented employers before the National Labor Relations Board and the U.S. Department of Labor concerning wage and hour and Family and Medical Leave Act issues.  In addition, he serves as outside general counsel to large multiemployer benefit plans, which involves counseling and litigation under ERISA and the Taft-Hartley Act.

Career highlights include:

• Defending employers in putative class action lawsuits alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and various state wage and hour laws
• Advising and counseling large employers targeted for “corporate campaigns” by national unions
• Defending employers in discrimination and ERISA suits in state and federal courts

Allen is a member of the American Bar Association, the Ohio State Bar Association and the Columbus Bar Association.

Allen has lectured on a variety of topics including the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the National Labor Relations Act, decisions of the National Labor Relations Board, Title VII and state discrimination laws and the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Allen received his J.D. with honors from the University of North Carolina School of Law, where he was a member of the University of North Carolina Law Review.  He received his B.A. summa cum laude from Vanderbilt University, where he was Phi Beta Kappa.

Honors & Recognitions

Columbus CEO, Best Lawyers, Labor and Employment, 2022

The College of Labor & Employment Lawyers, Fellow, 2020 to present

Chambers and Partners, Leading Lawyer in Labor & Employment, 2018

Columbus CEO, Top Lawyers in Columbus, 2010-2021

Ohio Super Lawyers, Employment and Labor, 2004-2006, 2009-2020

The Best Lawyers in America, Employment Law - Management, 2013-2023; Labor Law - Management, 2013-2023; Litigation - Labor & Employment, 2013-2022

Fellow of the Columbus Bar Foundation since 1999

Fellow of the American Bar Foundation since 2018

Martindale-Hubbell AV Peer Review Rated Top Rated Lawyer in Labor & Employment, Martindale-Hubbell, 1999-2022

Professional & Community Activities

Ohio State Bar Association, Labor and Employment Section Council, 2019 to present

Employer’s Guide to The Fair Labor Standards Act and FLSA Employee Classification, Editorial Advisory Board, Thompson Publishing Group, 2006-2014

Fair Labor Standards Act Cumulative Supplement, Contributing Editor, Bloomberg BNA Books

ABA Labor and Employment Section, Federal Labor Standards Legislation Committee
- Equal Pay Act Subcommittee, Chair, 1996-2003
- Sarbanes-Oxley Act Subcommittee, Member, 2003-2005
- Fair Labor Standards Subcommittee, Member, 2006 to present

Wage and Hour Laws Cumulative Supplement, Chapter Author, Bloomberg BNA Books

Ohio Supreme Court Mentor, Lawyer-to-Lawyer Mentoring Program, 2006-2013

Japan-America Society of Central Ohio, Board of Trustees, 2008-2017; Programming Committee Co-Chair, 2008-2012; Vice President, 2011-2013; President, 2014-2015; Immediate Past President, 2016-2017