Tessa A. Keller

Overview

Tessa specializes in helping businesses succeed by evaluating and minimizing their legal risks and defending them in all types of claims in state and federal court and in administrative proceedings. This practice includes consultation on a broad range of laws that impact employers including FMLA, the ADA, wage and hour laws, and the Wrongful Discharge from Employment Act, advising about best employment practices, and conducting workplace investigations.  Within this specialty, Tessa advises nonprofit organizations regarding compliance, board governance, contract drafting and revision, and a variety of other legal issues unique to those organizations.  Tessa also serves as a Title IX Hearing Officer for institutions of higher education and regularly provides trainings on a variety of employment law topics.  Additionally, Tessa has a broad civil litigation practice that includes defending claims related to business disputes, health law, personal injury, and class action litigation.

Tessa is a fourth-generation Montanan, and was raised in Plains, Montana.  She attended the University of Montana, and graduated with high honors with Bachelors Degrees in English Education and Spanish.  She attended law school at the University of Oregon, during which time she worked for the Oregon Department of Justice, the public defender’s office, Judge Ann Aiken in the United States District Court for the District of Oregon, and legal aid.  She also served as Articles Editor for the Oregon Law Review.  Tessa then returned to Montana to clerk for Justice Laurie McKinnon at the Montana Supreme Court, and has been with GLR ever since.

Outside of work, Tessa enjoys taking advantage of Montana’s trails, lakes, and rivers with her family and friends.