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Fitzgerald Law, PLLC: Twenty-One Consecutive Years on Super Lawyers’ Plaintiff List

Karen Fitzgerald’s own site is candid about the shape of her practice: she primarily represents individuals in employment disputes, but has represented employers as well. Super Lawyers, an independent third party, has classified her specifically under “Employment & Labor: Employee” and “Employment Litigation: Plaintiff” every year from 2005 through 2025 — twenty-one consecutive years. For anyone comparing options among this Dallas employment lawyer directory, that combination — a practice that leans employee-side by her own account and by independent classification, while occasionally representing employers — sits between the plaintiff-only firms and the openly dual-sided boutiques covered elsewhere in this category.

At a Glance: This Dallas Employee-Side Lawyer’s Credentials

I. From Big-Firm Partner to Solo Practice

Karen Fitzgerald earned her B.A. in advertising from Louisiana State University and her J.D. with honors from the University of Texas School of Law in 1989, the same year she was admitted to the Texas bar. Her career began at a large law firm, where she made partner within her first twelve years, before moving to several smaller boutique firms and eventually founding her own solo practice. She is Board Certified in Labor and Employment Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and also brings a broader commercial and business litigation background to her employment work.

II. A Practice That Leans Employee-Side, By Her Own Account

Fitzgerald’s about page states directly that although she primarily represents individuals in employment disputes, she has represented employers as well — a middle position between the plaintiff-only firms and the openly dual-sided practices in this category. She frames that dual experience as an asset: understanding “the needs and motivations of everyone involved” in a workplace dispute. Super Lawyers’ independent classification of her work as “Employment Litigation: Plaintiff” for over two decades running is consistent with a practice that is majority employee-side even if not exclusively so.

III. Practice Concentration

Fitzgerald’s stated practice areas span the full employment relationship: reviewing pre-employment documents like confidentiality, non-compete, and employment contracts; workplace-issue matters including family and medical leave, workplace safety, discrimination, and harassment; and post-employment matters like separation agreements, terminations, and non-compete disputes. Her specific focus areas include arbitration, disability rights, discrimination, employment agreements, executive representation, FMLA, sexual harassment, and whistleblower claims. She also serves as a Neutral Arbitrator on the American Arbitration Association’s Employment Law panel.

IV. Track Record

Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome. Employment matters are frequently resolved through confidential settlement or pre-litigation negotiation, which limits what any firm can publish about specific outcomes.

Fitzgerald’s own materials emphasize a client-outcome philosophy rather than a running results table: she describes measuring success not purely in dollar terms but by whether a client is satisfied with the outcome and able to move forward. Awesome Attorneys was unable to independently verify specific settlement or verdict figures for her practice; that gap is disclosed here rather than filled with estimated numbers.

V. Client Voice

Fitzgerald holds an Avvo Client’s Choice Award and Avvo Top Contributor recognition, with a 5.0 rating across her available Avvo reviews. One reviewer described a one-hour consultation that led them to consider an approach they would not have found on their own, which ultimately improved their situation at work. A second reviewer, describing themselves as a banking executive, called her exceptional in responsiveness and guidance. The sample size on Avvo is modest, consistent with a solo practice, but the ratings are uniformly positive.

VI. Beyond the Courtroom

Fitzgerald has practiced law since 1989, spanning large-firm, boutique, and solo practice settings over 36 years. She is a member of the National Employment Lawyers Association, an organization specifically for attorneys who represent working people, and serves as a Neutral Arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association’s Employment Law panel — a role that requires standing as a credible, even-handed evaluator to both sides of employment disputes.

VII. Recognition

Peer-reviewed and independently conferred credentials: Texas Board of Legal Specialization certification in Labor and Employment Law; Super Lawyers selection every year from 2005 through 2025, specifically classified under the Plaintiff/Employee designation; The Best Lawyers in America recognition, including a current 2026 edition listing; and Martindale-Hubbell peer ratings of Distinguished and Notable. Awesome Attorneys did not identify any marketing-program-only awards (pay-to-play recognition lists) claimed by this firm.

VIII. The Texas Legal Backdrop

Fitzgerald’s discrimination and harassment work runs through the same federal and state framework common to this category: Title VII, the ADA, and the ADEA generally require an EEOC charge before suit, while the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act (Texas Labor Code Chapter 21) requires a parallel charge with the Texas Workforce Commission’s Civil Rights Division within 180 days of the alleged act. Her equal-pay work intersects with the federal Equal Pay Act and Texas’s own pay-discrimination framework, which, unlike the federal Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, has not been updated to restart the limitations clock with each discriminatory paycheck — a gap Fitzgerald has written about publicly as a barrier for Texas employees pursuing state-law pay claims.

IX. Awesome Attorneys Assessment: This Dallas Employment Lawyer’s Strengths and Limits

Fitzgerald’s twenty-one-year run on Super Lawyers’ plaintiff-specific list, paired with a board certification held since well before most attorneys in this category qualified, reflects sustained, independently recognized standing on the employee side of employment law. Her AAA arbitrator role is a credential that specifically requires trust from both plaintiff and defense bars, which is a different kind of validation than firm-selected testimonials.

The honest limitation, as with a few other attorneys in this category, is that her practice is not exclusively employee-side. Prospective clients should ask directly about the frequency and nature of any employer-side work, particularly if there is any chance their own employer has been a client. As a solo practice, she also cannot offer the litigation bench depth of multi-attorney firms like Gillespie Sanford LLP or The Sanford Firm for large, resource-intensive cases.

X. Methodology & Sourcing

This profile was compiled from Fitzgerald Law’s own website (fitzgerald.law), including its About and practice area pages; Super Lawyers’ attorney profile; Avvo reviews and ratings; Martindale-Hubbell peer review data; the State Bar of Texas attorney directory; and a member spotlight interview published by Engage/LawOfficeSpace. No case results, credentials, or quotes were invented; where verifiable case-outcome data was not available, that gap is disclosed rather than filled.

Publisher Disclosure & Independence Notice

Awesome Attorneys is an independent legal directory and editorial publication. This profile was not paid for, commissioned, or reviewed by Fitzgerald Law, PLLC prior to publication. Awesome Attorneys may in the future offer sponsored placements clearly labeled as such, but no payment of any kind determines inclusion in, or the content of, this editorial profile. This article is for informational purposes only, does not constitute legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship between the reader and Fitzgerald Law, PLLC or Awesome Attorneys.