Joshua R. Van Kampen

Attorney Profile

Top Rated Employment & Labor Attorney in Charlotte, NC

Van Kampen Law PC
315 East Worthington Avenue
Charlotte, NC 28203
Visit: http://www.vankampenlaw.com
Phone: 704-247-3245
Fax: 704-749-2638
Selected to Super Lawyers: 2012 - 2022
Selected to Rising Stars: 2009 - 2011
Licensed Since: 2004
Practice Areas: Employment & Labor: Employee (50%), Employment Litigation: Plaintiff (50%)
Attorney Profile

If you are litigating an employment matter in a conservative state, you need the best possible advocate in your corner. In 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021, SuperLawyers rated Josh in its “Top 100” attorney list for all of North Carolina and in its "Top 25" attorney list for Charlotte. This follows Josh being named in the Top 100 List in 2017 as well. These are not lists ranking the top employment lawyers. Josh has been ranked among the top attorneys in any practice area five years running. At 49, Josh is among the youngest attorneys in North Carolina to receive these recognitions and among an elite group to receive these prestigious recognitions so consistently. 

The road to SuperLawyers' top lists for North Carolina started in Chicago, Illinois in 1998, where Josh trained as an associate at two nationally recognized employment law defense firms in Chicago: Seyfarth Shaw and Franczek Sullivan. During his six years as a defense attorney, Josh defended Fortune 500 companies as well as smaller businesses in age, race, sex, disability, sexual harassment, traditional labor, and wage and hour litigation. Josh's defense experience also included counseling employers on litigation avoidance and sexual harassment training.

In 2004, Josh relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina, and transitioned his practice from defending employers to exclusively representing victims of discrimination, sexual harassment, unequal pay, wrongful discharge, retaliation, and wage and hour violations. A significant portion of his practice also includes negotiations and litigation involving executive employment agreements, severance agreements and stock/long term incentive disputes.

Prior to forming Van Kampen Law PC in July 2011, Josh was a partner at two of the premier, plaintiff-side employment law firms in North Carolina: Fosbinder & Van Kampen, PLLC and Patterson Harkavy, LLP.

Van Kampen Law's primary clients are professional and executive-level victims of employment discrimination and sexual harassment. Josh leverages his training as a management-side employment attorney to anticipate and counteract strategies and tactics utilized by employers. Being a member of the defense bar has also been useful to Josh in helping clients to properly value their cases, and to assess when to push and when to concede during settlement negotiations.

The firm also strategically takes on fewer cases so that it can devote sufficient resources to match up favorably against the large defense firms employers invariably hire. By concentrating his practice exclusively on employment law in North Carolina for the last fiftteen years, Josh has also established close working relationships with many of the area’s employment law defense attorneys and in-house counsels, which can sometimes facilitate early settlement. To that end, many of the cases referred to Josh are from defense attorneys against whom he has litigated. Josh was even retained by a large law firm in Charlotte, which he litigated against many times, to join its defense team when it was sued for discrimination. 

Ultimately, Van Kampen Law strives to be regarded as the most aggressive employment litigation firm in the state and a firm to be feared at trial. That said, the firm also works effectively and in good faith with area employers to settle matters amicably and confidentially where possible. While litigation is ultimately often necessary, Van Kampen Law's initial approach with employers emphasizes diplomacy, open-mindedness and mutual interests. 

Josh has assumed several leadership roles within the plaintiff-side employment law bar in North Carolina. He is currently vice-chairman of the Mecklenburg County Bar Association's Labor and Employment section and has previously served as chairman and ethics chair of the North Carolina Advocates for Justice's Employment Law Section.  Josh has served on the North Carolina Bar Association's Employment Law Executive Committee for several years.  He is also member of the National Employment Lawyers Association and Southern Trial Lawyers Association. 

Josh is a frequent lecturer on employment law issues and negotiation strategy. 

Josh received his B.A. from Purdue University in 1993 and his Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois College of Law in 1998, where he graduated with magna cum laude honors.

Practice Areas
  • 50%Employment & Labor: Employee
  • 50%Employment Litigation: Plaintiff
Focus Areas

Employment Law - Employee

Selections

11 Years Super Lawyers
3 Years Rising Stars
  • Super Lawyers: 2012 - 2022
  • Rising Stars: 2009 - 2011

About Joshua R. Van Kampen

Admitted: 2004, Illinois

Professional Webpage: https://www.ncemploymentattorneys.com/josh-van-kampen/

Bar/Professional Activity

  • Josh has served as Chairman and Vice Chair of the Mecklenburg County Bar Association and North Carolina Advocates for Justice's Labor and  Employment Law. Josh has served on the Executive Committee of the North Carolina Bar Association's Employment Law Council.  In 2014, Mr. Van Kampen was admitted to membership in the Southern Trial Lawyer's Association; he is one of only twenty-six attorneys in North Carolina admitted to the STLA.  Also in 2014, Josh was one of only sixteen attorneys nationally to be be selected to Law 360's Employment Law Editorial Advisory Board. Josh is regularly quoted in state, local and national news stories on employment law, and presents annually at state and national continuing education seminars on employment law

Newsletters

Educational Background

  • University of Illinois College of Law, J.D., magna cum laude, 1998
  • Purdue University, B.A in Political Science and History, 1993

Videos

  • Meet Joshua Van Kampen video, www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAlpc-4MZWM, 2012

Verdicts/Settlements

  • On Feb. 2, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina returned a $750,000 verdict against the company, including $681,000 in punitive damages.“We asked the jury to send a message, not just to construction companies, but just to companies in town generally, that in Charlotte we take our workplace safety seriously, and we asked the jury to also send a message to workers that if they see dangerous situations at work that they should report it, and that if they are retaliated against for reporting it, we wanted to jury to say that we will have your back,” Van Kampen said. “And the jury said pretty loudly and clearly that they had his back.”https://www.ncemploymentattorneys.com/news/verdict-may-set-record-for-employment-case-punitives/, 2018

Honors/Awards

  • Van Kampen Law has been recognized as a "Best Law Firm" by US News and World Report since 2016 and obtained a "Tier 1" ranking by US News and World Report for 2019, 2020 and 2021. A "Tier 1" ranking places Van Kampen Law among the largest, most prestigious law firms in North Carolina. , US News and World Reports, 2020
  • From 2011-2012 and 2014-2021, Mr. Van Kampen has been recognized as a member of the "Legal Elite" by Business North Carolina Magazine, an honor bestowed on only 3% of lawyers in North Carolina.  Business North Carolina Magazine also previously recognized Mr. Van Kampen as one of the top employment law attorneys under 40. , Business North Carolina Magazine Legal Elite, 2021
  • For 2015 through 2021, Josh Van Kampen has been selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in American in Litigation- Labor and Employment., Best Lawyers in America , 2020

Pro bono/Community Service

  • Josh has volunteered in several capacities including the Lunch with A Lawyer Program for High School Students, the North Carolina Advocates for Justice and North Carolina Bar Association's New Bar Admittee Mentor Program Mentor, and the North Carolina State Bar Association Call4All WBTV event. , 2020

Scholarly Lectures/Writings

Industry Groups

  • Federal Bar Association - Labor And Employment Section
  • National Employment Lawyers Association
  • North Carolina Advocates For Justice
  • North Carolina Bar Association Employment Law Executive Committee
  • Southern Trial Lawyers Association
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Office Location for Joshua R. Van Kampen

315 East Worthington Avenue
Charlotte, NC 28203

Phone: 704-247-3245

Fax: 704-749-2638

Last Updated: 7/27/2021

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