The Portland office of global law firm K&L Gates LLP welcomes Dori Gilbert as a partner in its labor and employment practice. Gilbert, who worked with Preston Gates & Ellis LLP (now K&L Gates) from 2000 to 2004, rejoins the firm from the communications agency of Waggener Edstrom Worldwide, where she served as vice president of legal and business affairs.

As the head of global legal services at Waggener Edstrom, Gilbert provided counsel on labor and employment matters including hiring and redeployment, immigration, mergers and acquisitions, Family and Medical Leave Act policies, and social media guidelines. In addition, she developed and monitored programs for protecting the firm’s intellectual property and initiated the filing of the agency’s first provisional patent application. Gilbert also advises on such matters as employee wage and benefits, corporate ethics and compliance, risk management programs, trademark and copyright law, and licensing agreements.

With Gilbert’s return to K&L Gates, Waggener Edstrom has entered into a preferred provider relationship with K&L Gates under which the law firm will perform substantially all of Waggener Edstrom’s legal work on a global basis.

“We are delighted to welcome Dori back to K&L Gates,” said Brendan R. McDonnell, Administrative Partner of K&L Gates’ Portland office. “Her unique in-house perspective on managing the legal challenges of a global business will not only continue to be of great benefit to our longtime client Waggener Edstrom, but also to the firm’s many other Portland clients conducting business within the global economy.”