Profile

Kristen works with employers to help ensure compliance with the complex maze of labor and employment laws. She provides practical, tailored advice to help clients avert costly and damaging employment-related claims. Additionally, Kristen co-chairs the firm's municipalities practice.

Kristen joined Bond in 2005 as a labor and employment lawyer. In 2018 she was appointed by Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh as Corporation Counsel for the City of Syracuse.  After Mayor Walsh’s first term, Kristen returned to Bond in 2022.

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  • Listed in:
    • New York Super Lawyers®, Upstate New York Rising Star, Employment and Labor, 2015-2016
  • Onondaga County Bar Association
  • Justinian Honorary Law Society
  • Order of the Coif
  • Editor-in-Chief, Syracuse Law Review
  • Associate Editor, The Labor Lawyer

  • An Interview with Kristen Smith, Labor and Municipal Law, Legally Bond Podcast, March 6, 2023
  • HR Briefing: 2022 - A Year in Review, MACNY, January 10, 2023
  • Breakfast Keynote Session: Legal Update, 2022 Annual All-Day Conference, CNY SHRM, June 2, 2022
  • Are You Ready? NYS Paid Family Leave, Empire State Society of Association Executives, November 9, 2017
  • Three Critical Issues for New York Employers, New York Association of Long Term Care Administrators, April 21, 2017
  • What Employers Need to Know, Reagan Companies' Academy of Risk Management Seminar, 2017 Labor & Employment Law Update, March 2, 2017
  • Labor & Employment Law Update: Navigating Change in 2017, CNY SHRM, January 26, 2017
  • Other Employment Laws You Need to Know, National Business Institute, November 14, 2016
  • Legal Issues Regarding Company Wellness Programs, Syracuse Media Group, Healthiest Employers of CNY, November 4, 2015
  • The Fair Labor Standards Act: Understanding the Proposed Regulatory Changes, and Avoiding the Minefield of Wage & Hour Liability, CNY SHRM, October 8, 2015
  • Ask the Experts, 2015 Conference, CNY SHRM, June 12, 2015
  • Solving the Puzzle of Complex Accommodation Issues in the Evolving Workplace, Tompkins County SHRM , November 6, 2014
  • Complex Issues in Accommodating a Diverse Workforce, Annual Conference, NYS SHRM, September 30, 2014
  • Employment Law Basics for Supervisors, Managers & Business Owners, CNY SHRM, September 25, 2014
  • Top Ten Employment Law Trends and Issues for 2014, Legal Update, CNY SHRM, January 22, 2014
  • Identifying & Addressing Common Human Resource Management Pitfalls, Bond's Tenth Annual Best Practices for Nonprofits, January 16, 2014
  • The NLRB’s New, Aggressive Focus on Non-Union Employers, SHRM, March 7, 2013

  • Company news: Kristen E. Smith returns to Bond, Schoeneck & King, syracuse.com, April 20, 2022
  • Quoted in “U.S. sues Estée Lauder for allegedly discriminating against new dads,” WBBH, August 31, 2017
  • "Lawfully Managing an Aging Workforce," Manufacturing Matters, Summer 2017
  • Quoted in “New York Employers Must Prepare for Paid-Family-Leave Program,” HR Today, May 22, 2017
  • "New York’s Paid Family Leave Proposed Regulations: A Primer for Employers," Central New York Business Journal, April 3, 2017
  • "Know the Law: Background Checks Continue to Trip Up Employers," HR Specialist, New York Employment Law, May 2014
  • Kristen Smith and John Gaal, "Federal Agencies Extend Their Reach," New York Law Journal, January 22, 2013

  • Board of Directors, Food Bank of Central New York
  • Board of Trustees, Bishop Ludden Junior-Senior High School