Atlanta, GA (WiredPRNews.com). The Georgia-based law firm Kitchens New, & Cleghorn is taking advantage of its attorneys’ expertise working before the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) in order to expand its practice. With attorneys who have worked MSPB cases for nearly 30 years, Kitchens, New & Cleghorn is one of the top law firms in the country effectively defending federal employees.
Because of the differences between MSPB law and other legal fields, the attorneys representing federal employees must have sufficient MSPB-specific knowledge. Joyce Kitchens, a founding member of the Kitchens, New & Cleghorn firm, is acutely aware of what representation before the MSPB requires. “The Merit Systems Protection Board has its own body of law from which it makes its decisions. . . . This body of law is detailed and specialized” and “the procedural rules are different from those in federal courts. . . . It is a demanding and specialized practice,” said Kitchens.
As the head of the MSPB practice group at Kitchens, New & Cleghorn, Joyce Kitchens directly represents many of the firm’s federal-employee clients. One of her past clients stated: “Several years ago, I was faced with a blatant insult by my management at a federal agency…. After talking to Ms. Kitchens, I felt a load lift off me… Her experience as a former government employment attorney provided invaluable knowledge. In the end, I settled with the government agency and received everything that I asked for at the beginning of the employee dispute process.”
With several satisfied clients attesting to their MSPB-representation capabilities, the firm’s federal employment caseload has continued to grow.
Kitchens, New & Cleghorn has offices in Atlanta, GA and Athens, GA, but practices federal employment law throughout the country. Joyce Kitchens, who heads the MSPB Practice Area, has authored a number of professional articles, including: Alternative Dispute Resolution in Federal Court, Federal Civil Practice, April 22, 1999; Judicial Profile – The Honorable Joseph A. Hatchett, The Federal Lawyer, September, 1997; Developing/Protecting the Record for Appeal, Federal Appellate Practice, May 31, 1996; and Attorneys’ Fees Petitions under Fee Shifting Statutes, Federal Practice and Procedure, April 28, 1995, and a book, Federal Sector Guide to the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act and the Veterans Employment Opportunities Act, Dewey Publications, Inc., 2006.
Ms. Kitchens is listed in the Directory of Pre-eminent Lawyers, International Who’s Who of Professionals, and Who’s Who of American Women.