Overview
Erin Gibson Allen combines her diverse professional background with a passion for problem-solving to deliver strategic legal guidance to employers. With expertise spanning labor and employment law, workplace investigations, and non-profit governance, Erin is a trusted advisor who helps organizations navigate complex challenges while protecting their reputations and fostering strong leadership.
With extensive leadership experience on non-profit boards, Erin’s practice includes advising non-profit and tax-exempt organizations on general employment issues, board governance, organizational management, executive search, and leadership oversight. She has served in multiple board chair and committee roles across the performing arts, higher education, healthcare, and human services sectors.
Drawing on her background as a journalist, Erin leverages her investigative skills to design and execute thorough workplace investigations. She has handled complex cases involving senior leadership complaints, employee theft, workplace safety concerns, and allegations of harassment and discrimination. Erin frequently speaks on best practices for effective workplace investigations.
Her media experience also makes Erin a key member of the firm’s Reputation and Crisis Management team. She helps employers protect and defend their public image, understanding the critical importance of a strong reputation.
Additionally, Erin advises employers on reductions in force, providing strategic guidance to ensure smooth transitions while minimizing legal risks and maintaining workforce morale.
In the labor space, Erin has represented employers in representation elections, collective bargaining, union grievances, strike contingency planning, and defense of unfair labor practice charges.
Before joining Fisher Phillips, she also represented employers in antitrust matters and complex litigation. Erin also worked as a law clerk in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania after earning her law degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where she served as president of the Pitt Law Women’s Association.
Erin is a sought-after speaker on career development, leadership cultivation, and board service. She has been interviewed by The New York Times and BBC News and has spoken at professional events and on various podcasts. In 2011, Erin collaborated with the Pittsburgh legal community to create “Back to the Bar,” an initiative offering education, training, and resources for attorneys re-entering the profession after a career break. She also serves as an adjunct professor and regularly speaks at law schools to help students successfully transition into the legal profession.