Boyd A. Byers

Boyd Byers is the team leader of Foulston Siefkin’s Employment and Labor Law group. He has nearly 25 years’ experience counseling on workplace-related matters and litigating complex disputes. Working with clients that include Fortune 500 companies, small businesses, and nonprofits, Boyd has established a reputation throughout the Midwest as an astute problem-solver who is accessible, frank, and driven to achieve the best possible outcomes.

Boyd has litigated cases in Kansas, Missouri, Colorado, Oklahoma, and other jurisdictions. He has successfully represented clients in class and individual employment law claims of all kinds (discrimination, harassment, retaliation, FLSA, ERISA, NLRA, etc.), including more than 40 FLSA collective actions. In addition to his significant litigation practice, Boyd is also known for devising and implementing labor and employment strategies, drafting employment contracts and policies, navigating wage and hour compliance issues, structuring reduction-in-force programs, preparing affirmative action programs, and handling day-to-day HR issues. He also serves as a mediator to help other lawyers and their clients resolve employment-related disputes.

Named by Best Lawyers as Wichita’s 2017 “Lawyer of the Year” for Labor Law (Management Side), and 2015 “Lawyer of the Year” for Employment Law (Management Side), and regularly honored by Chambers USA, Martindale-Hubbell, and Super Lawyers, Boyd credits his success to carefully evaluating the issues at hand, understanding his clients’ objectives, and striving to achieve their goals with efficiency and economy. Praised by clients as being “highly intelligent and very practical,” his service approach is forthright and honest. Boyd believes that telling a client what they need to hear – not what they want to hear – is the most effective way to devise the best resolution strategies and establish trusted partnerships.

Widely recognized as an authority on employment law issues, Boyd shares his insight with legal peers, business owners, company managers, and HR professionals around the country. He has published hundreds of articles and is a sought-after speaker at seminars and conferences. Boyd is a co-editor of BLR’s Kansas Employment Law Letter, co-founder and co-editor of the Kansas Employment Law Blog, and a member of the board of editors for both the Journal of the Kansas Bar Association and HR Insight, a national newsletter.

Boyd grew up in an Iowa farming town with 200 residents and spent his summers working in fields. He and his wife, a school counselor, are the parents of a son in high school and a daughter who is a student at the University of Kansas. Active in the community, Boyd takes a leadership role in civic and cultural organizations. An accomplished basketball player – he was the career scoring leader of his high school team – he still takes the court twice a week.

Education

University of Iowa (J.D., 1993)
with High Distinction
Midland University (B.A., 1990)
summa cum laude

Admissions

Kansas (1993)

Practice Areas

Employment & Labor

Industries

Community Involvement

Exploration Place, Board of Trustees
United Way of the Plains Young Leaders Association, Steering Committee
Wichita Area Sexual Assault Center, former Board Member
Greater Wichita YMCA and Andover Parks & Recreation, Youth Sports Coach

Professional Memberships, Affiliations, and Honors

Recognized by Best Lawyers® as the 2015 Wichita Employment Law – Management “Lawyer of the Year” and 2017 Labor Law – Management “Lawyer of the Year”
Selected by peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© in the area of Employment Law – Management, Labor Law – Management, and Litigation – Labor & Employment, 2007-2018
Selected for inclusion in Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers® List, 2008-2017 (a Thomson Reuters business)
Identified by Chambers USA as a leading lawyer in the United States in the area of Labor & Employment Law, 2007, 2009-2018
Wichita Business Journal / 40 Under 40 Business Leader, 2006
American Bar Association Employment Law Section
Kansas Bar Association Employment Law Section, President, 2003-04
Journal of the Kansas Bar Association Board of Editors
Wichita Bar Association
Kansas Association of Defense Counsel
Defense Research Institute
HR Insight (National Newsletter) Board of Editors
Kansas Employment Law Letter Co-editor

Presentations

2018

Employment Law Round-Up - The Latest from the Legislature, Agencies, and Courts (Foulston Siefkin LLP, Employment Law Institute)

2017

Employment Law Update: The Year in Review - a Peek Ahead (Foulston Siefkin Employment Law Seminar)

2016

Winter is Here: The New FLSA Regulations and Other Wage-and-Hour Issues Facing Healthcare Providers (Foulston Siefkin Kansas Health Law Institute)
• Employment Law Update: What’s New... and What’s Ahead (Foulston Siefkin Employment Law Seminar)

2015

The Craziest Thing I Ever Heard: New Court Rulings and EEOC, NLRB, and DOL Activity that Every Employer Needs to Know About (Foulston Siefkin LLP, Employment Law Seminar)
“My Boss is Stressing Me Out” and Other Legitimate and Illegitimate Reasons Employees Request Time Off (Foulston Siefkin LLP, Employment Law Seminar)

2014

How to Survive an Employment Law Sharknado (Foulston Siefkin LLP, Kansas Health Law Institute)
Affirmative Action Update: OFCCP’s New Regulations and Recent Enforcement Activity (Foulston Siefkin LLP, Employment Law Seminar)
What's New in Employment Law (Foulston Siefkin LLP, Employment Law Seminar)

2013

Employment Law Update (Foulston Siefkin LLP, Health Law Institute)

2012

Employment Law Update (Foulston Siefkin, Employment Law Seminar)
Ten Things Employers Do That Drive Their Lawyers Crazy (Foulston Siefkin Employment Law Seminar)
Things HR Can Do Now to Take Advantage of the New Kansas Workers Comp Law (Foulston Siefkin, Foulston Siefkin Employment Law Seminar)
Employment Law Update (Foulston Siefkin Kansas Health Law Institute)

Publications