Butler Snow LLP

Labor & Employment - Practice Group Leader

Kara is a member and Practice Group Leader for Labor and Employment. She regularly advises clients in a variety of industries on employment law compliance. She has extensive employment and litigation and agency experience in Tennessee and around the country.

Kara Shea has been practicing law for 25 years, helping clients to develop and implement employment policies, assisting clients in conducting internal audits and investigations, and counseling clients on all aspects of employment law compliance.  Kara also has extensive litigation experience, including acting as lead counsel in wage and hour class and collective actions, and briefing a discrimination case to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Kara has conducted numerous independent workplace investigations for clients, as well as conducting supervisory training for clients on a variety of employment law-related topics.  Kara frequently writes and speaks on employment law issues, including co-authoring a comprehensive Wage & Hour Compliance manual published by HRHero® and BLR®.

Kara has edited the Tennessee Employment Law Letter (published by BLR®) for 17 years, and has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America® for employment law – management and labor law – management; by Super Lawyers® on their lists for Mid-South Super Lawyers (for employment and labor); Top 50 Women: Mid-South Super Lawyers, Top 50: Nashville Super Lawyers; and Top 100: Tennessee Super Lawyers. She was recognized by the Nashville Business Journal’s Best of the Bar in 2020 in the employment law category and has been ranked by Chambers USA, America’s Leading Lawyers for Business for labor and employment in Tennessee for many years.

Kara obtained her J.D. from Vanderbilt University and is admitted to the State Bar of Tennessee, the U.S. Court of Appeals Sixth, Seventh, Tenth and Eleventh Circuits and the U.S. Supreme Court.