Safety First: Meet Kevin Mullen, Employment Law Section Chair

SECTION SPOTLIGHT

Learn About the Austin Bar’s Employment Law Section and Leadership

AUSTIN BAR: Why did you want to be an attorney?

MULLEN: I didn’t, I just went to law school thinking it would get me into the FBI. Dodged a bullet there!

AUSTIN BAR: Why did you want to join this section? Why were you interested in being section chair?

MULLEN: Employment law is what I do all day long (at least five days per week). When I moved back to Austin seven years ago, I wanted to renew relationships with employment lawyers I had known when I practiced here in the early 2000s and meet other employment lawyers, so it made sense to join the section and become active in its leadership.

I enjoy learning about the products and services clients offer (think of Mike Rowe’s Dirty Jobs) and consulting with clients and experts to ensure that employee safety is paramount.

AUSTIN BAR: What area of law do you practice and what is most interesting about it to you?

MULLEN: I handle all sorts of employment matters, but within that space, I’m particularly interested in OSHA-related matters. I like this area because it truly involves life and death and it gets me out of the office and onto (or into) client job sites, kitchens, factories, manufacturing facilities, and other workplaces. I enjoy learning about the products and services clients offer (think of Mike Rowe’s Dirty Jobs) and consulting with clients and experts to ensure that employee safety is paramount. And, when a client is cited by OSHA for alleged violations of safety standards, I enjoy the challenge of contesting the citations in administrative proceedings.

AUSTIN BAR: Briefly share your plans for the Employment Law Section this year.

MULLEN: Our emphasis is on returning to in-person meetings and social events to restore the camaraderie that makes this section unique.

AUSTIN BAR: If you were not practicing law, what would you do for a career?

MULLEN: The path not taken was a military career.

AUSTIN BAR: Tell us a fun fact we would be surprised to know.

MULLEN: I make really good Mexican creamed corn (mayonnaise is the secret ingredient, believe it or not).

AUSTIN BAR: Are you a cat person or a dog person?

MULLEN: I grew up a dog person (my dad’s bird-hunting dogs were our “pets”), but our current furry friends are two cats, Winnie and Oliver. AL

From front left to right: Kevin Mullin with his family: Haley, Jackson, and Angela.

Kevin Mullen is a board-certified 20-year employment lawyer who left the world’s largest employment boutique five years ago to start his own solo practice. Nowadays, he advises management clients and executives on various employment matters and represents clients in employment and business litigation. He is particularly interested in OSHA matters and noncompete litigation. Mullen trained as a mediator at Cornell University’s Industrial and Labor Relations School in New York City, and he serves as a panel mediator for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. He also serves as a FINRA arbitrator.