Denis Sullivan Kenny
140 Geary Street, 7th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94108
Phone: (415) 433-1099
Fax: (415) 433-9434
E-Mail: dsk@sfcounsel.com
Areas of Expertise:
- Labor and Employment Litigation and Counseling
- Personal Injury Litigation
- Intellectual Property Litigation
- Complex Commercial Litigation
Education:
- University of San Francisco (J.D. 1995) Cum Laude
- University of California, Berkeley (B.A. 1991) Honors
- University of York, England (Fall 1990)
Denis S. Kenny is a founding partner at Scherer Smith & Kenny LLP, where he handles a variety of commercial litigation matters and specializes in employment counseling and litigation. In counseling client employers, Mr. Kenny emphasizes the importance of developing and implementing policies and procedures designed to ensure compliance with 1099 independent contractor, wage/hour, and harassment/discrimination state and federal laws. To facilitate this process, Mr. Kenny regularly speaks and provides updates to clients on developments in the ever-changing employment law arena.
Mr. Kenny practices in state and federal courts and has appeared before administrative forums, such as the California Labor Commission and the State Personnel Board, on employment and other litigation matters.
Prior to joining Scherer & Smith LLP in 2001, which would later become Scherer Smith & Kenny LLP, Mr. Kenny served as a deputy attorney general in the Employment Rights and Administration division of the California Attorney General's Office, where he obtained extensive trial and appellate experience on discrimination, harassment, retaliation and civil rights matters. Among his notable trial achievements, Mr. Kenny obtained a defense verdict on behalf of the California Department of Developmental Services in a disability discrimination jury trial venued in Sonoma County. Mr. Kenny also prevailed on several summary judgment motions involving cutting-edge employment issues. One such motion involved the definition of a “disability” under the Americans with Disabilities Act, opinion in Sutton v. United Airlines (1999) 199 S. St. 2139. Mr. Kenny's appellate work led to two published opinions in the First Appellate District of the California Court of Appeal.
Before working for the Attorney General, Mr. Kenny served as an associate with Sedgwick, Detert, Morgan & Arnold, where he primarily practiced complex commercial and environmental litigation. Mr. Kenny played an instrumental role in successfully defending a public utility in a soil contamination action brought by over 200 individuals in San Mateo County which was decided on epidemiology-based medical causation issues.
Mr. Kenny is a native of San Francisco but spent his childhood in Redding, California. He graduated with honors from the University of California, Berkeley, in Political Economy, and cum laude from the University of San Francisco School of Law. Mr. Kenny is the recipient of the American Jurisprudence Book Award for Legal Ethics.
Mr. Kenny lives in San Francisco with his wife, Lynne, and their son, Ryan and their daughter, Hailey.