Profile
Kara E. Stockdale advises employers in various industries with respect to labor and employment matters as well as employment-based immigration. She assists employers seeking to sponsor foreign nationals for work authorization through nonimmigrant visas as well as immigrant visas (permanent residence) in the United States. Kara works with employers sponsoring foreign nationals in a variety of industries including education/academia, IT, financial services, architecture, engineering, manufacturing, transportation, and healthcare. In the healthcare sector, she frequently works with clients seeking assistance with J-1 waivers for foreign medical graduates who complete residency training in the United States. Kara advises employers with regard to personnel policies and decisions, equal opportunity, discrimination, harassment, and retaliation claims, and Form I-9 compliance. Kara guides clients through wage and hour, FMLA, and immigration compliance investigations and also conducts workplace harassment investigations. She represents clients in employment and immigration matters in administrative proceedings including EEOC, NEOC, and DOL matters.
Kara serves as the Chair of Baird Holm’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. She is also the Chair of the Firm’s annual Labor Law Forum.
Prior to joining the firm, Kara worked in human resources in the healthcare industry and as a community organizer. During law school, she clerked at a Fortune 200 company, assisting in-house counsel with labor and employment issues involving state and federal regulations and emerging laws including the Railway Labor Act and the Federal Railway Safety Act. Kara graduated from the Creighton University School of Law, magna cum laude. She earned six CALI Excellence for the Future Awards and the Nebraska State Bar Association’s Silver Quill Award. She was also named to the Order of the Barristers and awarded the Best Brief for the Creighton Law Moot Court Competition. Kara was a co-founding member of the Employment & Labor Law Society and a member of the Creighton Law Review.
Since 2021, Kara has been selected by her peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch® in the fields of Labor and Employment Law Management and Immigration Law.
Areas of Practice
Education
- Creighton University School of Law, J.D., magna cum laude, 2013
- Creighton University, B.A., English and Spanish, 2009
Bar & Court Admissions
- Iowa, 2013
- Nebraska, 2014
- United States District Court, District of Nebraska, 2016
Professional & Civic Affiliations
- Nebraska State Bar Association
- Omaha Bar Association
- Iowa State Bar Association
- American Immigration Lawyers Association
- Creighton Law Young Alumni Council, co-founder (2013 – 2017)
- Nebraska Council of School Attorneys
- Immigrant Legal Center, Board of Directors (2022 – Present); Vice President of the Board (2024 – Present)
- Marian High School, Board of Directors (2022 – 2024)
- Heartland Workers Center, Board of Directors (2015 – 2020)
- Leadership Omaha, Class 45
Recent Speaking Engagements
- “Immigration Law Basics for Employers,” Nebraska Immigration & Workforce, NE Chamber, June 2024
