Constangy is proud to announce that Aji Abiedu, Dean Kpere-Daibo, Don Prophete and Kim Talley have been named to The National Black Lawyers Top 100 list.
The National Black Lawyers is a membership organization dedicated to honoring the United States’ best black lawyers. They supply members with a wealth of professional resources for increasing their knowledge and increasing referral connections.
To access the full list, click here.
Aji has over a decade of extensive experience in labor and employment litigation and a keen ability to navigate complex legal issues. Using this background, she confidently manages a voluminous and complex multi-jurisdictional litigation docket, working to achieve favorable outcomes for her clients. Aji's litigation prowess includes representing clients in a range of litigation matters, including wage and hour class and PAGA actions, EEOC and DFEH charges, and claims of discrimination, retaliation, harassment, and wrongful termination. She has prevailed on motions to compel arbitration and opposing motions under novel statutes, demonstrating her proficiency in both legal strategy and advocacy. With a deep understanding of federal and California employment law, Aji also advises clients on a wide range of issues impacting the modern workplace, including employee compensation and benefits, diversity, equity and inclusion, ADA, FMLA, and other leave issues, whistleblower claims, and workplace investigations. She is committed to delivering strategic counsel that helps clients stay compliant and mitigate risk in today's dynamic legal landscape. Aji has been recognized as one of The National Black Lawyers “Top 40 Under 40” since 2018.
Dean devotes his practice to representing employers in traditional labor matters, including providing labor guidance, defending unfair labor practice charges in front of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), and defending alleged violations of collective bargaining agreements. He also has extensive experience in representing and advising employers in union organizing campaigns, employee educational campaigns, providing supervisor training, and providing representation in front of the NLRB. Dean also focuses his practice on counseling and training employers concerning topics such as implicit bias and microaggressions, anti-harassment, workplace investigations, anti-discrimination, and positive employee-supervisor relations training to prevent disputes. Dean has been repeatedly recognized for his excellence and influence throughout his career. He was named a Rising Star by Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers® from 2018-2022; an inductee of the Who’s Who Diversity in Color, Bold & Brightest; one of the Power 100 Most Influential Black Professionals in St. Louis by Delux Magazine; and a “Top 40 Under 40” recipient by The National Black Lawyers in 2016.
Don is a trial lawyer who excels at representing large clients in complex and multi-plaintiff race employment discrimination cases. He has handled many high-profile and high-damage cases in the sports, military contractor and retail industries. Don has served as lead trial counsel in all types of employment disputes in federal and state courts in New Hampshire, New York, Kansas, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Tennessee including post-decertification wage and hour jury trials for major national employers. Don’s practice encompasses all aspects of labor law and labor relations. He has extensive experience assisting the firm's clients in responding to union organizing campaigns, negotiating and advising clients with respect to the administration of collective bargaining agreements and representing clients in grievance and arbitration proceedings. He has been recognized in numerous publications including The Best Lawyers in America®, Chambers USA, Missouri and Kansas Super Lawyers®, and many more.
For over 25 years, Kim has devoted her practice to management-side labor and employment law. She is favorably regarded in the legal community as an effective advocate in arbitrations, negotiations, hearings and administrative proceedings, in all phases of litigation and at trial. She regularly represents employers in single-plaintiff, multi-plaintiff, representative and class-action lawsuits, in both state and federal court, including claims for discrimination, retaliation, harassment, wage and hour, and other statutory and common-law claims arising from the employment relationship. She is skilled in all facets of discovery and fact-gathering, legal research, law and motion, and courtroom advocacy. Kim is recognized by clients and peers alike, appearing in many of the top legal industry publications for her work in labor and employment law and litigation, including Benchmark Litigation, Super Lawyers, and the National Black Lawyers Top 100, among others. Kim is a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, an invitation-only trial lawyer honorary society, representing less than one-half of one percent of American lawyers. She is also a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, a global honorary society of attorneys, judges, law faculty, and legal scholars whose public and private careers have demonstrated outstanding dedication to the highest principles of the legal profession.