Amy Beth Royal - Partner

aroyal@rkesq.com

Amy Royal, a founding member and partner in the firm, specializes in management-side labor and employment law, with an emphasis on employment litigation.  In fact, Amy has nearly ten years of experience in both private and public sector employer-side representation and has successfully defended employers in a variety of areas of employment law, including employment discrimination, sexual harassment, Family and Medical Leave Act and Wage/Hour Law violations, and breach of contract and wrongful discharge claims. 

Amy began her career in the public sector as an Assistant Attorney General with the Office of the Attorney General defending the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in matters that included employment claims. Upon entering private practice over seven years ago, Amy has exclusively concentrated her practice in management-side labor and employment law. Amy previously served as a judicial intern for the Honorable Lawrence E. Kahn in the United States District Court, Northern District of New York. 

Amy received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and History from Smith College in 1997.  In 2000, she earned her Juris Doctor from Albany Law School of Union University where she served as the Executive Editor for Lead Articles for the Albany Law Review.  She is the author of The Parameters of the Substantial Justification Test as Established by the Supreme Court in Lunding v. New York Tax Appeals Tribunal , 63 Alb. L. Rev. 657 (1999). 

Her accolades include receiving Business West's prestigious "40 under Forty" award recognizing her for outstanding leadership in the Pioneer Valley business community. Amy serves on the Board of Directors of the Center for Human Development and previously served as a Board Member of Child and Family Service of Pioneer Valley Inc.  She also serves on the Board of Trustees for The Mac Duffie School and is Chair of the Human Rights Committee of Aditus, Inc.  In addition, Amy serves as the Secretary of the Franklin County Bar Association and chairs its Continuing Legal Education Committee. She is also a member of the Hampshire County Bar Association's Events Planning Committee. 

Amy is a volunteer for the program "Girl Scouts of Today, Lawyers of Tomorrow" and, for several years, was an Adjunct Professor at Elms College in the Business and Law Department.  She is a frequent speaker for a wide variety of associations and organizations and has authored numerous articles on employment-related legal topics.  Amy is admitted to practice in both the state and federal courts in Massachusetts and Connecticut as well as federal court in Vermont. 

Position	Partner
Admitted	Massachusetts, January 2001 Connecticut, 2003 United States District Court, Massachusetts, 2001 United States District Court, Connecticut, 2003 United States District Court, Vermont, 2005 United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, 2003 United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, 2009
Education	J.D., Albany Law School of Union University,   Albany, New York B.A., Smith College, Northampton,   Massachusetts
Affiliations	American Bar Association Massachusetts Bar Association Connecticut Bar Association Hampden County Bar Association Hampshire County Bar Association Franklin County Bar Association
Volunteer Activities	Member, Board of Directors, Center for Human Development, Inc. Member, Board of Directors, Human Resources Unlimited Trustee, Board of Trustees of the Mac Duffie School Chair, Human Rights Committee, Aditus, Inc. Secretary, Franklin County Bar Association. Chair, Continuing Legal Education Committee, Franklin County Bar Association. Member, Events Planning Committee, Hampshire County Bar Association Volunteer Attorney for the Girl Scout of Pioneer Valley's "Girl Scouts of Today, Lawyers of Tomorrow" mentoring program.
Published Works	"The Parameters of the Substantial Justification Test as Established by the Supreme Court in Lunding v. New York Tax Appeals Tribunal, " 63 Alb. L. Rev. 657 (1999)
Born	1975, Falls Church, Virginia