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Courtney Leyes and LaKisha Kinsey-Sallis explain why that mistake is costing millions — and how the real secret to protecting your dealership isn’t contracts, it’s people.Lawsuits don’t usually start in the courtroom — they start with a blind spot in the dealership. A misclassified employee. A data privacy breach. A compliance box left unchecked. Attorneys for Fisher-Phillips Courtney Leyes and LaKisha Kinsey-Sallis have seen these “small” mistakes explode into six-figure problems, and they reveal why prevention is the most overlooked strategy in automotive retail.
In this conversation, they share the legal traps catching dealers off guard, why protecting your people is the best way to protect your business, and how AI and data privacy laws are rewriting the rulebook faster than most operators can keep up. If you’ve ever thought, “We’ll deal with it when it happens,” this episode is your wake-up call.
Takeaways
0:00 Intro — Legal talk with a twist at NAMAD
0:58 Why Courtney searched for diversity and found NAMAD
2:04 How LaKisha got pulled in — and why she stayed
3:31 NAMAD’s culture of sharing, not gatekeeping
4:37 Why employment law is really about protecting people
5:22 Wage-and-hour traps, ICE raids, and other compliance landmines
6:15 Why prevention calls are worth more than defense calls
7:28 Building legacy: protecting family-owned and first-time dealers alike
7:55 How AI and data privacy laws are reshaping dealer compliance
9:24 Why the best lawyers don’t “do it all” — they bring in experts
10:03 The blind spot every dealer has: waiting too long to call
11:32 How to connect with Courtney & LaKisha
Connect with Courtney Leyes at https://www.linkedin.com/in/courtney-leyes-495470a/
Connect with LaKisha Kinsey-Sallis at https://www.linkedin.com/in/lakisha-m-kinsey-sallis-4280bb34/
Learn more at https://www.fisherphillips.com/en/index.html