Vedder Price

Ariel M. Kelly

Associate

Ariel (Ari) M. Kelly is a Labor & Employment Associate in the Chicago office of Vedder Price.

As a skilled employment litigator, Ms. Kelly defends employers against claims of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and pay equity violations; FLSA, ADAAA, ADEA, FMLA and Title VII violations; and misappropriation of trade secrets. She also conducts compliance audits and investigations, counsels employers regarding employee life-cycle events, and conducts trainings on various employment law topics. 

Ms. Kelly further has experience drafting and negotiating employment-related agreements, drafting petitions for employment-based visas (TN, P-1, L-1A and L-1B) for global companies’ intracompany transferee employees, and representing clients in commercial litigation. She has gained both federal and state court trial experience, including the successful enforcement of a non-solicitation agreement in a bench trial against her client’s direct competitor.

Ms. Kelly received her law degree from Vanderbilt Law School and is named in the Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America list in the Litigation – Labor and Employment category for 2022. Ms. Kelly has also been named to the Mid-South Super Lawyers Rising Star list since 2018.

Ariel M. Kelly

Associate

Education

  • Vanderbilt University Law School, 2015
  • Vanderbilt University, B.A., 2012

Ariel M. Kelly

Associate

Bar Admissions

  • Tennessee, 2015
  • Illinois, 2024

Court Admissions

  • U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois, 2023
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, 2022
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit, 2021
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee, 2017
  • U.S. District Court, Middle District of Tennessee, 2016
  • U.S. District Court, Western District of Tennessee, 2016
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, 2016