Lewis B. Gardner

Lew is an employment lawyer and former senior human resources executive with over three decades of experience in private practice and corporate in-house settings.  

In addition to his employment law and human resources management experience, Lew served as General Counsel to both a privately held manufacturing company and an S&P 500 energy company.  In those capacities, he managed a variety of corporate functions, including business development, crisis management, communications, government affairs, and enterprise risk and compliance.  This background affords Lew a unique insight into how corporate culture and dynamics affect the resolution of employee relations issues. 

During the transformative years for employment law of the 1980’s and early 90’s, Lew handled dozens of discrimination and retaliation charges before administrative agencies, litigated numerous wrongful discharge cases, and regularly counseled clients on how to adapt to the changing landscape of human resource and employee relations.  

In the “dot com” era of the late 90’s and early 2000’s, as counsel to both high tech companies and their executives, Lew’s practice was concentrated in the negotiation of executive employment agreements and litigation of non-compete and tortious interference cases.

From 2003-2018, Lew held a number of senior level positions with EQT Corporation, the nation’s largest producer of natural gas, where he was instrumental in the company’s adoption of several major innovative changes to employee relations policies and practices benefiting the company’s employees.

Lew has tried cases before juries, arbitrators, administrative tribunals, and federal judges; argued and briefed cutting edge employment issues in both state and federal appellate courts throughout the country; and conducted hundreds of investigations into employee misconduct involving non-compete violations, harassment, discrimination, retaliation, theft of trade secrets, tortious interference with contractual relationships, and wage and hour violations. 

At GardnerFrankhouser, Lew uses his 35 years of experience as a management employment lawyer and human resources executive in the exclusive representation of executives, senior managers and professionals in complex employment matters.