Steve Kardell litigates complex employment issues, including executive liability. He is the author of the authoritative treatise Whistleblower and Bounty Law and has developed corporate ethics programs for major multinational corporations. He frequently lectures on whistleblower law and internal investigations at law schools and in continuing legal education courses. Attorney Kardell has distinguished himself in this field repeatedly. Representing compliance officers, general counsels, and all levels of corporate executive management.
For more than 35 years, Mr. Kardell has dedicated his practice to complex employment law issues with a focus on whistleblower law and corporate internal investigations. He routinely handles high-stakes Sarbanes-Oxley, Dodd-Frank and qui tam cases. In 2010, attorney Kardell negotiated a $3.7 million Sarbanes-Oxley settlement, totaling the following monetary and non-monetary results: (monetary) client takeaway of $2,775,000 with a contingency fee of $925,000, and (non-monetary) secured major changes to corporate governance at a major Fortune 500 company. He has also represented a number of Wall Street whistleblowers who have disclosed improprieties that led to the financial markets implosion.
Attorney Steve Kardell’s determined advocacy has successfully guided many managers and executives through the dual challenges of a whistleblower suit and an internal investigation. Please contact us online or call us at 214-306-8045 to schedule an appointment at Steve’s office. For immediate response, text to 214.616.4654 or 972.946.6646.
Practice areas
• Whistleblower law
o Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX)
o Qui tam
o Healthcare, Mortgage fraud
• Corporate internal investigations
o Corporate ethics terminations
o Corporate board liability
o Employment contracts
Education
• J.D., University of Houston, 1977
• B.A., University of Texas, 1973
• Board Certified in Labor & Employment Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization
He is a former Adjunct Professor of Law, SMU Dedman School of Law, where he was a founding member of the Multistate Labor and Employment Law Seminar, 1985-2004.
Developed the first corporate compliance class at the law school level.
Developed international corporate ethics programs for such major multinational corporations as Electronic Data Systems.
Served as an advisor to the New York Stock Exchange on corporate codes of conduct and corporate ethics litigation.
Steve is the author of the authoritative treatise Whistleblower and Bounty Law.
He has been quoted on executive termination cases in Forbes, Business Week, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Times and other national publications.
Publications
Whistleblower and Bounty Law, 2012
Beyond Whistleblowing: The Available Tools at Hand For Employees as Shareholder Activists in Corporate Governance
Navigating the Employment Issues Created by Sarbanes-Oxley and Advocating a New Cause of Action for the Era of Corporate Ethics
The Post-Enron Corporate Compliance Program: History, Theory, Evolution and Deficiencies
Thinking of Whistleblowing? Think Again
Former co-editor in chief of the Texas Association of Business Employment Law Handbook
Seminars
Arkansas Bar Association 2016-2017 40th Annual Labor & Employment Law Conference, Blowing the Whistle
Some of Mr. Kardell’s most high-profile cases include representation of Citigroup executive Richard Bowen, who is generally credited with blowing the whistle on the largest of the Wall Street frauds, the Citigroup subprime mortgage debacle. He represented Jack “Jay” Palmer, whose 2010 complaint against Infosys regarding their abuse of the H1-B visa program resulted in the largest settlement in a case of alleged civil fraud over visas – $34 million.
More recently, Mr. Kardell represented Ashley Yablon, the ZTE whistleblower who, while serving as General Counsel for the Chinese tech giant, uncovered an elaborate scheme in which ZTE used a shell Chinese company to buy and sell embargoed American equipment to Iran, and then attempted to cover up these activities. After an exhaustive, 5-year investigation, ZTE reached a $1.2 billion settlement with the U.S. government.
Ashley in 2022, PUBLISHED, Standing Up To China, where Steve is quoted as “Yablon’ s story reads like a John Grisham novel”.