Kristen L. Zaehringer

Kristen Zaehringer represents a diverse variety of corporate and individual clients in complex commercial cases, arbitrations, mediations, and before regulatory agencies. Kristen’s practice consists of three primary areas: (1) business and contractual disputes, including matters for health care providers, (2) compliance and ethics, and (3) employment law.

Kristen serves on the Firm’s Ethics and Loss Prevention Committee and was appointed by the Judges of the District of Connecticut to serve on the Federal Grievance Committee, a committee of lawyers that hears grievance complaints against lawyers admitted to practice in federal court. She is also a past co-chair of the Federal Practice Section of the Connecticut Bar Association and a member of the Connecticut Bar Association’s Judicial Subcommittee to the COVID-19 Task Force. She previously served on the District of Connecticut’s Local Civil Rules Advisory Committee, a group of lawyers charged with submitting to the federal judges an analysis of the procedural and local rules for federal cases in the District of Connecticut.

Kristen has wide-ranging experience in federal and state courts in Connecticut and New York.  She has litigated cases involving a variety of disputes, including:

• Class action lawsuits
• Shareholder derivative actions
• Qui tam actions involving health care providers
• Health care provider disputes
• Business torts asserted among members of closely-held business (including fraud, theft, and breach of fiduciary duty)
• Corporate and partner dissolutions and disputes
• Claims for contribution and indemnification
• Health care insurance litigation
• Securities fraud
• Breach of contract and guaranty agreements
• Insurance coverage disputes
• Consumer fraud (including unfair trade practices, violation of federal and state credit reporting laws, violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act)
• Commercial lease evictions and breaches
• Commercial mortgage foreclosures
• Environmental enforcement actions and other environmental disputes
• Enforcement of easements and other covenants restricting the use of real estate
• Professional negligence (including attorney malpractice)
• Claims against attorneys for ethical violations
• Employment discrimination and retaliation
• Wrongful termination
• Violation of wage and hour law
• Violation of non-competition and confidentiality agreements

Kristen regularly represents clients before various administrative agencies including: the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the United States Department of Labor, the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights & Opportunities, and the Connecticut Department of Labor. Kristen also drafts and provides advice on numerous human resources matters, including: employment contracts, restrictive covenants, severance agreements, and the implementation of employment manuals, policies and procedures.

Kristen is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the George Washington University. Upon graduation from the Quinnipiac University School of Law, Kristen worked as a law clerk for the Honorable Dominic J. Squatrito, U.S.D.J. (2005-2007).  Prior to joining Murtha Cullina, Kristen worked at Zeldes, Needle & Cooper, P.C., in Bridgeport Connecticut (2007-2013). Since 2013, Kristen has also served as an attorney volunteer at annual student mock trials sponsored by the District of Connecticut's Public Outreach Committee. Kristen has represented veterans and incarcerated individuals on a pro bono basis and, in 2016, she received the District of Connecticut's Pro Bono Award for her work on a prisoner rights case involving claims brought under the 8th Amendment. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of Friends of New Haven Legal Assistance Association. Kristen holds an AV rating with Martindale-Hubbell, is a fellow of the American Bar Foundation, and is a past officer of the Raymond Baldwin Inn of Court.

• Appellate Practice
• Attorney Professional Liability
• Business Litigation
• Community Banking
• Insurance Recovery
• Intellectual Property Litigation
• Labor and Employment
• Litigation
• Privacy and Cybersecurity
• Tort and Product Liability

• District of Connecticut Federal Grievance Committee
• District of Connecticut Local Civil Rules Advisory Committee
• American Bar Foundation, Fellow
• Connecticut Bar Association -  (past Co-Chair of the Federal Practice Section), Member of the Federal Practice Section’s Executive Committee and Civil Rules Committee
• Inns of Court
• New York State Bar Association
• Judicial Subcommittee of the Connecticut Bar Association's COVID-19 Task Force

• Holds an AV® Preeminent™ Peer Rating from Martindale-Hubbell
• Listed in Connecticut Super Lawyers® in the area of Civil Litigation - Defense, 2020  (Super Lawyers is a registered trademark of Key Professional Media, Inc.)
• James W. Cooper Fellow of the Connecticut Bar Foundation 
• Pro Bono Award for the District of Connecticut, 2016
• Named one of Fairfield County’s Top 40 Business People under the Age of 40 in 2015
• Connecticut Law Tribune 2015 New Leaders in the Law
• 2015 Leadership Fairfield County Program
• Listed as New England Super Lawyers® Rising Star in the area of Civil Litigation, 2014 - 2017 (Super Lawyers is a registered trademark of Key Professional Media, Inc.)
• Listed as Connecticut Super Lawyers® Rising Star in the areas of Employment & Labor Litigation, Civil Litigation Defense and Business Litigation, 2013 - 2019 (Super Lawyers is a registered trademark of Key Professional Media, Inc.)

• Law Clerk to the Honorable Dominic J. Squatrito, United States District Judge for the District of Connecticut (2005-2007)
   

• Town of Hamden, Connecticut – Town Council Member
• Friends of New Haven Legal Assistance Association - Board Member
• Quinnipiac University School of Law Alumni Association - Executive Board
• Public Outreach Committee of the U.S. District Court for District of Connecticut, Member

• November 5, 2021 - Three Murtha Cullina LLP Attorneys Win Municipal Elections
• December 30, 2020 - Kristen L. Zaehringer Named James W. Cooper Life Fellow of the Connecticut Bar Foundation
• May 5, 2020 - Kristen L. Zaehringer Reappointed to the Federal Grievance Committee
• January 2, 2019 - Murtha Cullina LLP Announces New Partners and Counsel
• July 25, 2018 - Kristen L. Zaehringer Appointed Co-Chair of the Federal Practice Section of the Connecticut Bar Association
• October 23, 2017 - Kristen L. Zaehringer Named Fellow of American Bar Foundation
• May 12, 2017 - Kristen L. Zaehringer Participates in Mock Trial Student Program in Bridgeport
• December 22, 2016 - Elizabeth J. Stewart and Kristen L. Zaehringer Receive District of Connecticut 2016 Pro Bono Award
• December 19, 2016 - Kristen L. Zaehringer Appointed to the Federal Grievance Committee
• July 12, 2016 - Kristen L. Zaehringer Reappointed to the Local Civil Rules Advisory Committee
• November 10, 2015 - Connecticut Law Tribune Names Attorneys 'New Leaders in the Law'
• June 26, 2015 - Kristen L. Zaehringer Receives "40 under 40" award from Fairfield County Business Journal
• May 14, 2015 - Kristen L. Zaehringer Participates in Mock Trial Student Program in Bridgeport
• April 7, 2015 - Kristen L. Zaehringer Elected Board Member of Friends of New Haven Legal Assistance Association
• Murtha Cullina Team Runs New Haven Road Race to Benefit the New Haven Legal Assistance Association
• Murtha Cullina Attorney Kristen Zaehringer Named to Quinnipiac University School of Law Alumni Association Executive Board
• Murtha Cullina Welcomes New Associates

• March 2018 - Book Review: Business and Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts, Fourth Edition
• June 2016 - U.S. District Court District of Connecticut Filings Checklist
• June 30, 2014 - Stamford Case Could Set Precedent As Postal Service Downsizes

• May 7, 2020. Kristen Zaehringer moderated: “Using Zoom in the Federal Courts” for the Federal Practice Section
• January 28, 2020. Kristen Zaehringer co-presented: “Written Discovery” for the Hartford County Bar Association
• January 17, 2019. Kristen Zaehringer co-presented on Connecticut Civil Practice for the Hartford County Bar Association
• March 13, 2019. Kristen Zaehringer moderated: “Federal Court Discovery: A to Z” for the Federal Practice Section
• June 11, 2018 - Kristen Zaehringer Moderating Panel at CT Legal Conference on Pro Bono Appointments in Federal Court
• April 24, 2018 - Kristen Zaehringer Moderating Panel "Federal Practice 101" for the Connecticut Bar Association Young Lawyers Section
• January 11, 2018 - Melissa Federico and Kristen Zaehringer Presenting at Hartford County Bar Association Civil Practice Series
• October 13, 2017 - Important Developments for Employers with Employees in Connecticut, Murtha Cullina's 2017 Employment Law Seminar
• January 19, 2017 - Madiha Malik and Kristen Zaehringer Speaking at CBA Labor and Employment Section meeting
• January 5, 2017 - Kristen Zaehringer to Moderate Panel Discussion for Quinnipiac University School of Law Students
• September 30, 2016 - Virtual Reality: Revisiting Telework in the Digital Age, Murtha Cullina's Employment Law 2016
• May 10, 2016 - Kristen L. Zaehringer and Elizabeth J. Stewart to Present "The Essentials of Federal Practice CLE" for the Connecticut Bar Association
• January 20, 2016 - Kristen Zaehringer moderated "Rediscovering Ediscovery: How to Get and Use it Under the Revised Rules" hosted by the CBA
• January 8, 2016 - Kristen Zaehringer was a panelist for Quinnipiac University School of Law on “What Working Life is Like in a Law Firm.”
• October 2014 - Pre-Employment Background Checks, Leaves of Absence, and Religious Accommodations, Murtha Cullina's Employment Law 2014: “An HR Director's Nightmare,” Hartford, CT
• September 2014 - " Pre-Employment Background Checks, Leaves of Absence, and Religious Accommodations, Murtha Cullina's Employment Law 2014: “An HR Director's Nightmare,” Stamford, CT
• October 2013 - New Twists on Discrimination Laws, Murtha Cullina's Employment Law 2013: "New Wine in Old Wineskins"

• New York
• Connecticut
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
• U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York
• U.S. Supreme Court
• U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
• U.S. District Court, District of Connecticut

• Quinnipiac University School of Law (J.D., magna cum laude, 2005)
• George Washington University (B.A., summa cum laude, 2002)