Jennifer Penberthy Buckley

Jennifer Penberthy Buckley

Associate
she / her / hers

Biography

Jen Buckley handles Delaware-based employment disputes, traditional labor-management relations, and strategic workplace guidance for a range of clients, including both out-of-state enterprises who require Delaware counsel, and Delaware-based companies. Her clients do business in a wide range of industries from technology to retail, education, and healthcare.

Jen guides clients through virtually every employment-related issue imaginable, including day-to-day counsel on issues such as employment agreements, termination, leave, wage-and-hour issues, and disciplinary matters. She also defends claims of discrimination, harassment, defamation, and wrongful discharge. She also defends her clients against claims asserted before administrative agencies, including the Delaware Division of Unemployment Insurance, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Delaware Department of Labor Office of Anti-Discrimination and, of course, in court.

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In addition, Jen advises her clients on personnel policies, including offer letters, handbooks, nondisclosure agreements, and onboarding procedures. She also counsels them on compliance strategy and related matters.

Jen’s clients typically have two objectives: aggressively defending against adverse allegations and maintaining a sense of calm and unity of purpose in the workplace. Jen has the legal and business acumen to guide clients through the complex process of achieving both. In particular, she operates on the principle that minimizing risk is just one of many factors clients must weigh in decision making, such that the most cautious approach will not always be the best solution. She strives not to reflexively give the most cautious advice but rather gets to know her clients’ businesses and provides them with a spectrum of options, rather than a one-size-fits-all answer.

Her clients say the same thing. One observed that “[She is] incredibly responsive to anyone. There are times when we may pose a question to them, and instead of a knee-jerk response, they will provide an overview and say if it needs more research. They let us do that and tell us how long it will take, so we are not waiting in the ether.”

In employment litigation, companies are frequently responding to emotionally charged allegations made by employees with whom a working relationship is ongoing. Jen adept at handling potentially volatile workplace situations with sensitivity and finesse.

More specifically, she approaches every matter with an extraordinary level of empathy and emotional intelligence. She seeks first to understand, beginning with her clients’ concerns and business realities. In doing this, she never loses sight of the critical fact that everyone involved is human, has feelings, and that respecting and responding to those feelings is an essential part of her work.

In the end, of course, what Jen provides is much more than substantive legal expertise. She works to earn a place as a member of a client’s team, and to provide guidance that may begin with employment issues -- but doesn’t end with it. The goal of the practice, of course, is first-rate employment representation, but she sees that as a means to a much more important end: peace of mind.

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Professional Activities & Recognition

Honors & Recognitions

Listed in Chambers USA 2023 — "Associate to Watch"

Listed in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch®in America for Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law; Litigation - Labor and Employment (2023 - present)

Professional

Chair, Delaware State Bar Association's Labor & Employment Section (2022-2023); Vice Chair (2021–2022); Secretary (2020-2021)

Member, Delaware State Bar Association

Member, American Bar Association

Education

Widener University School of Law, J.D., summa cum laude and valedictorian, 2016;

  • Articles Editor, Delaware Journal of Corporate Law
  • Wolcott Fellowship (2015/2016)

Salem College, B.A., 2004

CLERKSHIP
Hon. Karen L. Valihura, Supreme Court of Delaware (2016/2017)

Bar & Court Admissions

Bar Admissions

  • Delaware, 2016
  • United States District Court for the District of Delaware

Newsroom

Firm News

Speaking Engagements

Jennifer in the News

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