Nicole M. Rivers

(she/her/hers)

Nikki defends employers of all sizes in high-stakes employment litigation and labor matters and counsels clients on employment best practices. She has provided representation in complex cases involving claims of wage and hour violations, harassment, retaliation, discrimination, breach of employment agreements, Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) violations, and violations of California employment and labor laws, including the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), the California Family Rights Act (CFRA), and the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA).   

Prior to joining Mintz, Nikki was an associate with a full-service law firm in San Diego, where she represented clients in individual and class action lawsuits at the federal, state, and administrative levels. Nikki also counseled clients on day-to-day human resources matters and   drafted employment-related documents, including employee handbooks, transportation liability waivers, executive severance agreements involving exercise of stock options, and arbitration agreements.

Earlier Nikki was an associate in the St. Louis office of a global employment and labor law practice, and practiced in the Chicago and Los Angeles offices of another large law firm, where she handled both commercial and employment litigation matters and maintained an active pro bono practice. After earning her JD, Nikki was an Environmental Attorney Fellow at the Environmental Law and Policy Center in Chicago.

In law school, Nikki was staff editor of the Washington University Law Review. She also spent a semester as an exchange student at Hong Kong University, and served as a judicial internal to the Honorable Mary Ann Medler, then a federal magistrate judge on the US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

She has authored several articles on employment and labor law topics for national publications, including Bender’s Labor and Employment Bulletin. 

• Washington University (JD)
• Eckerd College (BA)

• San Diego Super Lawyers: Rising Stars - Business Litigation (2022)
• Super Lawyers: Included on the list of Illinois Rising Stars (2014 – 2017)

• Member, National Employment Law Council