Hynes runs gamut of employment law for clients

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For more than 35 years, Jeff Hynes has practiced labor and employment law.

But when he was starting out, he wasn’t certain where his path would lead.

“I took a leap of faith and a detour to the road less traveled with a hunch and a bet that there would be a need for a labor law practice. It has been very rewarding career,” said Hynes, managing shareholder and president of the Elm Grove-based firm Hynes & Kuhn.

His journey started after he graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1984. He went on to serve as staff counsel to the National Labor Relations Board in Washington, D.C., then practiced labor and employment law with two corporate law firms and gained many valuable experiences.

Since returning to Wisconsin in 1988, the main specialty of Hynes’ law practice has been representing employees, managers and executives in employment-law matters. Hynes started his firm with three other attorneys, including Lynn Adelman, who later became a federal district court judge.

“I can’t count the number of times that I have drawn on my past experience in making careful, informed decisions, which is the essential of representing my clients today,” Hynes said.

The firm has thrived under Hynes’ leadership, catering to the needs of unions, individual employees and executives who are involved in workplace disputes or in need of sound legal advice. The firm also provides preventative legal counsel to small businesses.

“If there is one leadership skill that stands out more than any other with Jeff — given his experience representing management/corporations, as a government attorney and as a practitioner representing Individuals and small businesses — it is his drive to obtain diverse experience and to always be able to see and respect different points of view in a genuine and effective manner,” said John Kreuser, an associate attorney at Hynes & Kuhn.

Since 1995, Hynes has served as both the president and chairman of the Wisconsin Employment Lawyers Association, a group of more than 75 lawyers throughout the state who represent employees in employment-law matters.

“I feel I pursued this area of the law with an unrelenting desire to take on the cause of the underdog, and I was able to find a niche that took me exactly where I was supposed to be,” Hynes said.