Royal

Our Team / Amy B. Royal

Quote

As a business owner myself, I know firsthand the challenges companies face. I understand how to assess risk and provide practical solutions.


The relationships I form with clients are the most fulfilling aspect of my work. Because companies confront a multitude of legal issues each and every day, I have the opportunity to work closely with their key executives on an ongoing basis and with respect to a variety of matters. I have worked with several clients for over two decades and, in providing counsel to them over the years, I become part of their team. I enjoy feeling included in their organization.

Bio

Background

Amy founded The Royal Law Firm in 2008 with the following three-part objective: to foster diversity and inclusion in the legal profession, to create a sophisticated practice serving businesses only, and to give back to the community she grew up in. 

Amy is a trial lawyer with over twenty-three years of civil litigation experience solely on the company-side. Amy has extensive experience handling all phases of litigation from inception through trial and appeal. She possesses two unique specialties within her litigation practice: employer-side employment law and business tort defense. Amy also has a substantive labor law practice as well as a corporate transactional one. 


Amy began her legal career as an Assistant Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts where she defended the Commonwealth in civil litigation matters. Amy also served as a judicial extern for the Honorable Lawrence E. Kahn in the United States District Court, Northern District of New York and was employed by the City of Springfield in its Law Department.


Areas of Expertise

Amy’s Labor and Employment Practice

Employment Litigation: Amy has successfully defended private-sector and public-sector employers in federal and state courts as well as before administrative agencies in various areas of employment law, including the following:


  • Individual and class action wage and hour law
  • Employment discrimination and harassment, such as
    Disability
  • Race
  • Sex
  • Age
  • Sexual orientation
  • National origin
  • Gender identity
  • Leaves of absence such as the Family and Medical Leave Act
  • Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)
  • Workplace safety and OSHA
  • Wrongful discharge

Labor Law: Amy is also a labor lawyer and has represented unionized companies during collective bargaining, at arbitrations, and with respect to employee grievances and unfair labor practice charges. Amy has also advised during union organizing campaigns. 


Human Resources Law: Amy regularly offers proactive guidance to clients on general workplace matters by


  • Helping them manage tricky workplace situations, from terminations to leaves of absence or accommodation requests to workplace investigations.
  • Drafting personnel policies and employment handbooks
  • Conducting employment practices audits on matters including wage and hour law and record keeping
  • Conducting management training
  • Implementing affirmative action plans 


Amy’s Commercial Litigation Practice

Amy has exclusively and successfully defended companies in commercial litigation matters, including the following:

  • Several hundred business tort and casualty litigation matters 
  • Unfair competition claims
  • Contract disputes


Amy’s Corporate Transactional Practice

As a litigator, Amy brings a unique skill set to her transactional work, much of which centers on drafting and negotiating contracts and corporate compliance. Because Amy litigates and arbitrates contract disputes, she has a real-world understanding (with an eye to litigation) on how to carefully craft contracts from the start, thereby minimizing the risk or necessity of contract claims later on. Amy has quite extensive experience in drafting a variety of contracts, including employment-related contracts, such as employee compensation and retirement, health, and disability benefit programs, vendor contracts for services such as electronic medical billing, software, and marketing, and other contracts for Internet-based companies, such as privacy and data collection policies. 



Additionally, Amy assists and advises companies on corporate compliance. Her work includes breaking down regulatory requirements for her clients on laws ranging from HIPAA to ITAR, auditing business practices and record keeping procedures, and developing strategies and internal policies and procedures.   


Outside of Work

Amy loves basketball and is an NBA fanatic. Her love of basketball is what led her to the creation of the 501(c)(3) organization, Springfield Ballers, Inc. , which provides affordable athletic opportunities to youth in the Greater Springfield area.

Music, primarily vocal and guitar, yoga, writing, and traveling are other ways Amy spends her out of work time. 

Education

  • J.D., Albany Law School of Union University, Albany, New York
  • B.A., Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts

Admitted

  • Massachusetts
  • Connecticut
  • Vermont
  • New Hampshire
  • New York
  • United States District Court, Massachusetts
  • United States District Court, Connecticut
  • United States District Court, New Hampshire
  • United States District Court, Vermont
  • United States District Court, Northern District of New York
  • United States District Court, Southern District of New York
  • United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

Accolades

  • 40 Under Forty, BusinessWest (2009)
  • 40 Under Forty Alumni Achievement Award Finalist, BusinessWest (2022)
  • Top Women of Law, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly (2012)
  • New England Super Lawyer (2014 - 2016, 2019 - present)
  • Massachusetts Clubhouse Coalition Award for Providing Employment Opportunities to Individuals with Mental Illness (2015)
  • Top Women Attorneys in Massachusetts, Boston Magazine (2014, 2016, 2017)
  • Top Attorneys in Massachusetts, Boston Magazine (2015) 
  • Finalist for Readers Choice Award - Best Lawyer as published by Daily Hampshire Gazette (2017, 2018, 2022) 
  • Winner: Readers Choice Award - Best Lawyer as published by Daily Hampshire Gazette (2023)

Community

  • Center for Human Development, Inc., Board of Directors (2008-present)
  • President (2019-present)
  • Vice President (2014-2019)
  • Chair, Governance Committee (2010-present)
  • Springfield Ballers, Clerk (2021-present)
  • Massachusetts State Council, a chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management, Member (2012-present)
  • The United Way of Hampshire County, Board of Directors (2009-2015)
  • President (2012-2014)
  • Campaign Co-Chair (2014-2015)
  • Aditus, Inc., Board of Directors (2010-2020)
  • Viability, Inc., Board of Directors (2017-2018)
  • The MacDuffie School, Inc., Board of Trustees (2008-2012)
  • Franklin County Bar Association, former Secretary and Treasurer

Affiliations

  • National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms
  • American Bar Association, Labor & Employment Law Section Member
  • Massachusetts Bar Association, Labor & Employment Law Section Member
  • Connecticut Bar Association
  • Hampden County Bar Association

Contact Amy

Contact Amy

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