Dr. Kuzmich is a Ph.D. Industrial–Organizational psychologist who specializes in professional growth coaching and scientific evaluation of organizational policies and practices for compliance with Title VII, Title IX, due process principles, and the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures. Her background enables the firm to take an integrated approach to advocacy, combining legal representation and client support.

Working alongside the attorneys, she spearheads the firm’s crisis management and media relations strategies for clients facing cancellation campaigns and defamation. She works with clients to assess their needs and leads a team of in-house consultants to formulate strategies on navigating public scrutiny, combating false narratives, and reclaiming identity. She also performs psychological assessments and mentors clients for re-employment by identifying strengths and areas for growth, formulating strategies to manage ongoing challenges, outlining opportunities for development, and crafting future-focused action plans.

Dr. Kuzmich also consults in matters involving First Amendment retaliation claims, workplace discrimination, and Title IX investigations in higher education. She ensures that expert opinions are methodologically sound, peer-reviewed, and Daubert-qualified, and that adjudicative practices are consistent with accepted science, best practices, and due process. In employment matters, her work focuses on discrimination and disparate impact analysis; bias in hiring, promotion, discipline, and termination; workforce analytics; performance evaluation systems; and personnel selection and testing. In Title IX matters, she evaluates institutional bias, faculty discipline and tenure processes, compliance irregularities, credibility and evidentiary standards, and structural factors that may affect outcomes.

Dr. Kuzmich’s commitment to civil liberties and justice has roots in a profound personal history. After immigrating to America from the Soviet Union as a child, she witnessed discrimination and denial of due process of immigrants. Despite any hardships, Dr. Kuzmich remained committed to her education, earning two master's degrees and her doctoral degree, requiring a four-hour daily commute (yes, you read that correctly). She has also been known to commute four hours for Waffle House and Amish food. In her free time, Dr. Kuzmich mentors high school and college students on social sciences research and career exploration. As a member of way too many book clubs, leading two of her own, she can always be counted on for a good thriller recommendation or her hot takes on overrated “bestsellers.”

Some of her publications include:

• Kuzmich, I., & Watts, L.L. (2022, April). The Effects of Stress and Trait Mindfulness on Ethical Decision Making. Presented at the 37th annual conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Seattle, WA.

• Watts, L. L., Kuzmich, I., Leung, D. W., Gibson, C., & Barsa, A. (2020). Impression management and overclaiming on job applications: Related to future sales performance? International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 29(1), 134–138.

• Kuzmich, I., & Scherbaum, C. (2021). Identifying Faking on Forced-Choice Personality Items Using Mouse Tracking. Personnel Assessment and Decisions, 7(1). 

• Leung, D.W., Watts, L.L., Kuzmich, I., Gibson, C., & Barsa, A. (2019, August). Who self-enhances on applications the most? Demographics, self-enhancement, and sales performance. Paper presented at the 79th annual meeting of the Academy of Management, Boston MA.

• Kuzmich, I., & Scherbaum, C. (2019, April). Using social-categorization theory and methods to study faking behavior. Presented at the 34th annual conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, National Harbor, MD.

• Watts, L.L., & Kizmich, I. (April, 2018). Who overclaims the most? Demographics and self-enhancement on job applications. In P.C. Gibson (Chair), Big fakers and bigger data: Emerging insights from practice. Symposium presented at the 33rd annual conference of the Society for Industrial/Organizational Psychology, Chicago, IL.