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Jennifer Langen is a Partner at Adams Law, PLLC. She practices in the firm’s Civil Litigation and Government Practice groups.

A gifted legal analyst and strategist, Jennifer’s forte is written legal argument at both the trial and appellate levels. She excels at positioning cases for resolution by summary judgment, and often succeeds in securing victory for her clients before trial ever starts. In addition, Jennifer is a talented litigator and appellate advocate. She handles a broad range of legal issues, including, but not limited to, those that arise in the areas of federal civil rights, insurance coverage disputes, municipal law, employment and housing law, planning and zoning, and general tort law.

Jennifer is admitted to the practice of law in both Ohio (1998) and Kentucky (1999), as well as the United States Supreme Court, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the federal district courts for the Eastern District of Kentucky, the Western District of Kentucky, and the Southern District of Ohio.

Jennifer resides in Cincinnati with her husband, David, and sons, Louis and Jack.

Ms. Langen has been a member of the firm’s litigation team since 1998. Her practice is primarily dedicated to the defense of governmental bodies and officials in all types of cases, the defense of employers in employment law litigation, and the areas of civil rights litigation, zoning, ERISA denial of benefits cases, insurance coverage, and commercial litigation. Ms. Langen has experience at all stages of litigation, including pre-litigation investigation, alternative dispute resolution, pretrial discovery, motion practice, trial, and appeal. She has been involved with both civil jury trials and bench trials, and practices in both state and federal courts in Kentucky and Ohio.

Some of the matters Ms. Langen has handled include:

  • Prepared numerous responses to charges of discrimination for submission to the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Kentucky Human Rights Commission on behalf of both public and private employers.
  • Negotiated a nuisance value settlement on behalf of a county in a construction litigation case.
  • Won summary judgment for an employer on a plaintiff’s age discrimination claim. Otto v. City of Newport, E.D.Ky. Case No. 12-00019-DLB-CJS.
  • Obtained summary judgment on a property owner’s claim that the Planning Commission and its officials violated his constitutional rights and committed state law torts by adopting a zoning ordinance that prevented the property owner from opening a fireworks store at a certain location. Lewis v. Boone County Planning Commission, E.D.Ky. Case No. 2:12-90-WOB.
  • Secured defense verdict in a jury trial on four plaintiffs’ claims that two police officers had used excessive force against them. Gonzalez v. City of Covington, E.D.Ky. Case No. 2:10-CV-142-DLB.
  • Obtained summary judgment for a police detective on a claim that she violated the Fourth Amendment and committed various state law torts in connection with the prosecution of a man for child abuse. Robison v. Watson, E.D.Ky. Case No. 2:10-CV-00211-WOB-CJS.
  • Secured decision at trial and appellate levels upholding a planning commission’s decision to deny a zone change. Backer v. Woodford County, Ky. Ct. App. Case No. 2009-CA-358.

Ms. Langen has been part of the firm’s governmental law practice since 1998. As part of that practice, she provides legal guidance, support, and litigation services for state and local governmental bodies, as well as individual government officials.

Ms. Langen has also worked as an Assistant City Solicitor in the General Counsel Division of the City of Cincinnati’s Law Department. In that role, she provided legal advice to a number of departments and officials in city government.

Some of the services Ms. Langen has provided to her government clients over the years include:

  • Attending public meetings of local governmental bodies and addressing legal issues that arise at those meetings.
  • Advising local governments on a wide range of topics, including, but not limited to, open records requests, open meetings issues, HIPAA compliance, employment and labor law, the legal ramifications of proposed ordinances, taxation, annexation, and eminent domain.
  • Drafting numerous ordinances and resolutions.
  • Assisting in the development of, and drafting, various policies, procedures, and protocols.
  • Handling pre-litigation claims against the government.
  • Litigating claims on behalf of the government.

Ms. Langen has been advising both public and private employers in all facets of employment law since 1998. In her employment practice, Ms. Langen has helped clients successfully deal with discrimination, retaliation and harassment issues, leave entitlement and accommodation requests, wage and hour laws, and a variety of other employment-related topics. She has defended numerous lawsuits and administrative charges brought under both state and federal law and has drafted multiple employment and non-competition agreements. And, Ms. Langen has helped employers develop and draft employment policies, procedures, and handbooks.

Ms. Langen’s forte is appellate law, which she has been practicing since 1998. She has been tremendously successful before the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, the Kentucky Supreme Court, and the Kentucky Court of Appeals. She has experience in all facets of the appeal process, including preserving legal issues for appeal, helping clients secure appeal bonds, drafting appellate motions and briefs, and giving oral argument.

A representative list of Ms. Langen’s appellate work includes:

  • Dawson v. Dorman, Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, Case No. 12-6163. Court upheld the trial court’s decision granting summary judgment to three police officers and a city on a plaintiff’s Fourth, Eighth and Eighteenth Amendment claims.
  • Spencer v. City of Catlettsburg, Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, Case No. 11-5832. Court upheld the trial court’s decision granting summary judgment to a mayor and city on a plaintiff’s First Amendment retaliation claim.
  • Frodge v. City of Newport, Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, Case No. 11-5458. Court upheld the trial court’s decision granting summary judgment to police officers in a Fourth Amendment false arrest claim.
  • Burden v. Paul, Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, Case No. 11-6278. Court upheld the trial court’s decision granting summary judgment to police officers on all of the plaintiff’s federal constitutional and state-law tort claims.
  • Madison County Fiscal Court v. Ky. Labor Cabinet, Kentucky Supreme Court Case No. 2010-SC-000322-TG. Drafted amicus curie brief on behalf of the Kentucky League of Cities on the issue of municipal law immunity.
  • Triple Crown Subdivision Homeowners’ Association v. Oberst, Kentucky Supreme Court Case No. 2006-SC-000934-DG. Convinced Kentucky Supreme Court to reverse an unfavorable decision of the Kentucky Court of Appeals in a case regarding the enforceability of restrictive covenants.
  • Jerauld v. Carl, Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, Case No. 09-5714. Court upheld the trial court’s decision granting summary judgment to a psychiatrist, deputy jailer, and jail nurse in a case alleging the failure to provide adequate psychological treatment to an inmate who attempted suicide.
  • Robinson v. Kenton County Detention Center, Kentucky Court of Appeals Case No. 2011-CA-1095-MR. Court upheld the trial court’s decision granting summary judgment to jail officials in a case alleging that jail officials were negligent in hiring a deputy jailer who sexually assaulted the two plaintiffs.
  • Jerauld v. Kroger, Kentucky Court of Appeals Case No. 2010-CA-1429-MR. Court upheld trial court’s decision granting summary judgment to jail psychologist on plaintiff’s state-law negligence claim.
  • Gardner v. Kenton County, Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, Case No. 13-5096. Court upheld trial court’s decision granting summary judgment to individual jail officials in a case alleging they had improperly classified an inmate who killed another inmate.
  • Scheffey v. City of Covington, Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, Case No. 12-5019. Court upheld trial court’s decision granting summary judgment to several police officers who were accused of using excessive force in subduing mentally ill subject.
  • Washington University (1993)
  • Salmon P. Chase College of Law (1998)
  • Commonwealth of Kentucky
  • State of Ohio
  • United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky
  • United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio
  • Kentucky Bar Association
  • Northern Kentucky Bar Association
  • Cincinnati Bar Association

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