2020 Hot Topics in Contemporary Labor Relations Law

Beverly P. Alfon, JD Related Seminars and Products

Partner

SmithAmundsen LLC

Gregory H. Andrews, JD Related Seminars and Products

Principal

Jackson Lewis

Gregory H. Andrews is a Principal in the Chicago, Illinois, office of Jackson Lewis P.C.  Much of his work is focused on the representation of employers in traditional labor matters where Mr. Andrews negotiates collective bargaining agreements, defends employers in labor arbitrations and successfully guides employers through union organizing attempts via on-site coaching and training of supervisors and management in addition to representation before the NLRB.

Mr. Andrews’ work is also focused on representing employers in unfair competition, trade secret and restrictive covenant cases in state and federal courts.  In addition, he has successfully defended employers in numerous arbitrations, trials, and appeals in state, federal courts.  His litigation experience is focused on representing employers of all sizes in a wide variety of industries with an emphasis on representing employers in the hospitality, food and beverage manufacturing and packaging and health care in ADA, FMLA, Title VII, FCA and FLSA single plaintiff and class action cases.

Mr. Andrews’ M.S. in exercise physiology led him into labor and employment law at a time when drug testing was first a mandatory subject of collective bargaining and the ADA had just been signed into law. A frequent speaker for the Illinois, DuPage and Kane County Bar Associations, Mr. Andrews also taught human resources for fifteen years as an instructor for Aurora University and Northern Illinois University’s SHRM Certification Test Preparation Course.  He received his Juris Doctorate from Chicago-Kent College of Law in 1992, a Masters in Science from the Illinois in 1987 and his Bachelors of Arts from Luther College in 1980.

Derek G. Barella, JD Related Seminars and Products

Partner

ArentFox Schiff, LLP

Barry M. Bennett, JD Related Seminars and Products

Partner

Dowd, Bloch, Bennett, Cervone, Auerbach & Yokich, LLP

Barry M. Bennett is a partner at the law firm of Dowd, Bloch, Bennett, Cervone, Auerbach, & Yokich. His broad litigation experience in representing unions includes suits to compel arbitration and enforce arbitration awards, contract enforcement actions, defense of duty of fair representation, Landrum-Griffin, and secondary boycott claims, and state court actions involving allegations of strike misconduct, defamation, and tortious interference with contract. He also provides general counseling to unions, assists in contract negotiations and the development of organizing strategies, and has appeared on behalf of unions in numerous arbitrations and NLRB proceedings. Mr. Bennett is a 1980 graduate of Harvard Law School. He is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Seventh, Third, Eighth, Eleventh, and Federal Circuits, the United States District Courts for the Northern District of Illinois and several other districts, and the Supreme Courts of Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.

Professor Sharon Block, JD Related Seminars and Products

Executive Director of the Labor and Worklife Program

Harvard Law School

Sharon Block is the Executive Director of the Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School. The Labor and Worklife Program is Harvard’s forum for research and teaching on critical labor issues and their implications for society. Prior to coming to Harvard Law School in 2016, she was the head of the Policy Office at the U.S. Department of Labor and Senior Counselor to Secretary of Labor Tom Perez.

For twenty years, Block has held key labor policy positions across the legislative and executive branches of the federal government. In 2012, she was appointed to serve as a member of the National Labor Relations Board by President Obama. She was senior labor and employment counsel to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee under Senator Edward Kennedy. While serving in the Obama White House as Senior Public Engagement Advisor for Labor and Working Families, Block led the historic White House Summit on Worker Voice, which explored ways for workers to fully participate in their economic future. 

Block serves on a number of labor-related board and advisory committees, including as a board member of the National Employment Labor Project, the Roosevelt Institute, and JUST Capital; member of the Economic Policy Institute Perkins Project Advisory Committee, Massachusetts Attorney General Labor Advisory Committee, member of the Higher Quality Jobs Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, and member of the advisory board for the Institute for the Future’s Equitable Futures Lab and advisory council member for the Institute for the Cooperative Digital Economy. In addition, she writes frequently on labor and employment issues and is a senior contributor to OnLabor.org.

Block received her B.A. from Columbia University and her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, where she received the John F. Kennedy Labor Law Award.

Jayna Brown, JD Related Seminars and Products

General Counsel

Teamsters Local 727

Jayna Brown joined Local 727 as a staff attorney in February 2013. The Bay City, Mich., native received bachelor’s degrees in psychology and political law theory from DePaul University before going on to earn her Juris Doctor from DePaul. Jayna previously worked as a law clerk for Hogan Marren — a union-side law firm — and as an associate attorney for Children’s Law Group. Her father, a former General Motors employee, is a lifelong member of the UAW and her grandfather and two uncles were Teamster drivers.  As general counsel, Jayna is the in-house legal advisor to the union, working on contract negotiations, arbitration hearings, hearings before the National Labor Relations Board, the Illinois Department of Labor and other governmental agencies, while also handling union compliance matters.

Lisa R. Callaway Related Seminars and Products

Partner

Engler Callaway Baasten & Sraga LLC

Michele Cotrupe, JD Related Seminars and Products

Associate Counsel

SEIU Local 1

Kenneth G. Dau-Schmidt, Ph.D, J.D. Related Seminars and Products

Willard and Margaret Carr Professor of Labor and Employment Law

Indiana University at Bloomington Maurer School of Law

Professor Dau-Schmidt is a nationally recognized teacher and scholar on the subjects of labor and employment law and the economic analysis of legal problems. His innovative teaching methods using classroom simulations have been widely featured. In 2003 Prof. Dau-Schmidt was awarded the Leon H. Wallace Award, Indiana Law's top teaching prize, and IU's Sylvia Bowman Award for Teaching Excellence. He received the Excellence in Education Award of the Industrial Relations Research Association in 2004.

Professor Dau-Schmidt is author of seven books and numerous articles on labor and employment law and the economic analysis of law, and he frequently presents papers at academic conferences and law schools across the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia. In 1990 he received the Scholarly Paper Award from the Association of American Law Schools for his work on the economic analysis of the criminal law as a preference-shaping policy. Professor Dau-Schmidt is active in law school administration, most recently serving as Associate Dean of Faculty Research.

Involved in several national academic associations, Professor Dau-Schmidt was elected to the National Council of the American Association of University Professors and appointed to serve on the executive and litigation committees of that organization. He is the past chair of the Labor Law Group and has chaired the Association of American Law School sections on the Economic Analysis of Law and Socio-Economics. Professor Dau-Schmidt has been invited to teach at various European and Asian universities, including Christian-Albrechts-Universität in Kiel, Germany; Friedrich-Alexander-Universität in Erlangen, Germany; and Université Panthéon-Assas (Paris II) in Paris. He is also an affiliated faculty member with Peking University's School of Transnational Law in Shenzen, China.  Professor Dauschmidt holds a Ph.D. in economics, J.D. and M.A. in economics from the University of Michigan, and a B.A. in economics and political science from the University of Wisconsin.

Joshua L. Ditelberg, JD Related Seminars and Products

Partner

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Joshua Ditelberg is a partner engaged in a broad-based labor and employment practice at Seyfarth Shaw LLP.  His practice includes a particular focus on labor relations and the employment-related aspects of corporate transactions, business restructuring, and workforce reductions.  Mr. Ditelberg has extensive experience with all aspects of labor relations law, including collective bargaining, NLRB litigation, strike preparation and management, federal litigation under Section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act, and arbitration.  He has negotiated numerous collective bargaining agreements in a range of industries, including with the Teamsters, UAW, USW, IAM, SEIU, UNITE HERE, and UFCW.  Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Ditelberg served as a law clerk to Judge Ralph B. Guy, Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and to Associate Justice Joseph R. Weisberger of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island.  Mr. Ditelberg is the President of the Chicago Chapter of the Labor and Employment Relations Association, a leading professional organization in the fields of industrial relations and human resources management.  He has been selected as a Leading Lawyer by the Leading Lawyers Network and an Illinois Super Lawyer by Law & Politics, designations awarded to the top 5% of attorneys in Illinois.  Mr. Ditelberg has been elected a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, a national organization established through an initiative of the Council of the Section of Labor and Employment Law of the American Bar Association.  Election as a fellow is the highest recognition by colleagues of sustained outstanding performance in the profession, exemplifying integrity, dedication, and excellence. Mr. Ditelberg is Adjunct Professor of Labor Law at John Marshall Law School.  Additionally, he has lectured on labor and employment subjects to numerous organizations including the American Arbitration Association University, the Practicing Law Institute, and the Turnaround Management Association.  Mr. Ditelberg is a 1991 magna cum laude graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, and holds B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of Pennsylvania.

Josh File, JD Related Seminars and Products

Partner

Katz, Friedman, Eisentein, Johnson, Bareck & Bertuca P.C.

Joshua File joined the Labor and Employment practice of Katz, Friedman in 2011. Prior to becoming an associate, Josh worked as a law clerk with the firm in both the Workers' Compensation and Labor and Employment practices throughout his three years of law school.

Josh earned his Juris Doctor from DePaul University, College of Law in 2011, where he graduated with a certificate in Business Law and was the recipient of the CALI Excellence for the Future Award in Litigation Strategies. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Public Affairs from Indiana University in 2007, where he graduated with a major in Legal Studies and a minor in Business Management.

Josh is a member of the Illinois Bar and is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Illinoi, the United States District Courts for the Northern District and Central Districts of Illinois, and the United States Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.  He is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association, the Chicago Bar Association, the AFL-CIO Union Lawyers Alliance, and he also serves on the Advisory Board for the IIT Chicago-Kent Law School's Institute for Law in the Workplace.

Ms. Lauren A. Fox, JD Related Seminars and Products

Member

Cozen O'Connor

Lauren Fox counsels private and public sector clients in the full spectrum of labor and employment related issues, including areas of traditional labor and employment law, employment discrimination, and public education. She has significant experience counseling government entities and education sector employers in all areas of labor and employment law.

Her experience includes practice in the areas of collective bargaining negotiations, labor management relations such as wrongful discharge and unfair labor practices; FMLA, medical leave and wage and hour compliance; and employment discrimination, harassment and retaliation counseling and litigation. Lauren provides daily counsel to employers, advising clients on litigation avoidance and compliance with federal and state statutes and implementation of collective bargaining agreements. Her experience also includes drafting personnel policies, severance agreements, and employment agreements.

Prior to private practice, Lauren served as a judicial law clerk for Chief Judge Anthony J. Scirica, United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Amy Moor Gaylord, JD Related Seminars and Products

Partner, Co-Chair, Traditional Labor Practice Fellow, College of Labor and Employment Lawyers

Akerman LLP

With over 25 years of experience, Amy Moor Gaylord focuses her practice on traditional labor matters and employment litigation for both public and private sector employers with an emphasis on National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) proceedings, union organizing drives, NLRB-conducted elections, arbitration cases, contract negotiations, and employment discrimination matters. She has experience counseling clients in various industries, including higher education, not-for-profit, public safety (fire/rescue, police, 911 emergency dispatch centers), hospitality, and entertainment, among others.

Amy has served as lead negotiator in hundreds of collective bargaining negotiations in both the public and private sectors. She frequently represents employers in state and federal court, including class action and TRO/preliminary injunction proceedings, in arbitrations, and before administrative agencies. In addition, she counsels clients regarding union avoidance, workplace harassment, and compliance with a variety of employment-related statutes, including Title VII, the NLRA, the ADEA, the ADA, the FMLA, and the FLSA.

Amy previously worked as an attorney with the National Labor Relations Board in Peoria, Illinois.

Notable Work

Higher Education:

• Representation of a large community college in contentious labor negotiations where the client was able to avoid a strike through creatively resolving a health insurance issue that was at the center of the conflict.
• Representation of a religiously affiliated college against a union that was trying to organize contingent faculty (adjunct and non-tenure track employees). By proving to the NLRB that the college was exempt from unionization as a religious educational institution, the union ultimately withdrew their petition on the day of the representation hearing rather than litigate the issue.

Not-For-Profits Organizations:

• Representation of multiple clients in countering union organizing campaigns, including defending clients against unfair labor practice charges filed during and after the union organizing drives.
• Representation of clients in various discrimination and harassment lawsuits.

Kate Gianopulos Related Seminars and Products

Supervisory Filed Examiner

National Labor Relations Board

Kate Gianopulos has been a Supervisory Field Examiner at the National Labor Relations Board Chicago Regional office since February 2013. Ms. Gianopulos began her career with the NLRB in Chicago as a Field Examiner in 2003. She attended Loyola University Chicago (Go Ramblers!) where she received her B.A. in 2001. In 2004, she received her Master’s degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs.

Scott A. Gore, JD Related Seminars and Products

Partner

Laner Muchin

Upon graduating law school in 1989, Mr. Gore served as a trial attorney for the National Labor Relations Board in Chicago for four years. While at the NLRB, Mr. Gore’s litigation results were consistently among the top within the Region and earned Mr. Gore two merit awards. Mr. Gore joined Laner Muchin, Ltd.in 1994 and became a Partner in 1998.

Mr. Gore has represented Employers in cases before Federal and State Courts, administrative agencies and arbitrators. He has also lectured and advised employers concerning a wide range of labor topics including collective bargaining, representation matters and before the NLRB on a wide variety of topics that fall under the National union election campaigns and NLRB matters. He has also handled numerous wage and hour cases and employment discrimination matters.

Mr. Gore has served as counsel to many public and privately owned corporations including a national waste disposal company, major grocery chains, charter schools, a nationwide mortgage lending company as well as numerous employers in Chicago’s produce industry and Chicago’s construction industry.

Mr. Gore is a member of the American Bar Associations. In November, 2023 he was named by Crain’s Chicago Business as Notable Leaders in Employment and Labor Law and has been named one of the Leading Lawyers in Illinois, based on a statewide survey of lawyers from 2014-2023. Leading Lawyers comprise less than 5% of all lawyers in the state. Mr. Gore was also named one of Labor Relations Institute Top 100 Labor Lawyers in America.

Mr. Gore is a graduate of Indiana University and received his J.D. degree cum laude from Case Western University in Cleveland, Ohio.

Angie Cowan Hamada, JD Related Seminars and Products

Regional Director, Region 13

National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)

Angie Cowan Hamada is the Regional Director of Region 13 of the National Labor Relations Board. Prior to starting as Regional Director in July 2022, Director Hamada was a shareholder at Allison, Slutsky & Kennedy based in Chicago where she represented unions and employees in labor and employment law matters before state and federal agencies, courts, as well as in arbitration, mediation and negotiations.  She was also previously a Commissioner on the Cook County Human Rights Commission and Chaired that Commission. She graduated from Chicago Kent Law School in 2005 with a certificate in Labor and Employment Law. Director Hamada was previously the program co-chair of the ABA’s Developing Labor Law Section, and is an editor of the treatise The Developing Labor Law: The Board, the Courts and the National Labor Relations Act.  

Marisel Hernandez, JD Related Seminars and Products

Jacobs, Burns, Orlove & Hernandez

Marisel always knew she wanted to help others who lacked the know-how to navigate a system or faced language barriers. Growing up in the South Bronx as the product of two parents from Puerto Rico, by age nine Marisel was already serving as an interpreter for her neighbors, which quickly led to also serving as their advocate. So it was a natural fit after her graduation from Fordham University and then New York University School of Law to continue that advocacy for others. She worked at the National Labor Relations Board in New York and Chicago and at the Chicago office of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission prior to joining the Firm in 1988.

In her 35+ years as an attorney, Marisel has represented public and private labor clients in a variety of industries including retail, health care, food processing, construction, education and transit. In addition, she represents several Chicago public pension funds, on a variety of issues in state and federal court and before administrative agencies such as the EEOC and the Illinois Department of Human Rights. She provides advice and handles personnel matters. She advises union clients on a daily basis regarding contract interpretation, grievances, arbitrations, unfair labor practices, organizing and representation matters. Marisel negotiates agreements on behalf of employee benefit funds with service providers and assists with the negotiation of investment and investment-related contracts.

Marisel has tried jury cases in federal court on behalf of individual plaintiffs in employment discrimination matters and has been first chair at trials involving the Fair Labor Standards Act. She also handles individual and class action cases under the Family & Medical Leave Act and collective actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Marisel is fluent in Spanish. She is a member of the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, the Puerto Rican Bar Association of Illinois, and the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois, and she is a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. Since March 2008, Marisel has been recognized as one of the Women Leading Lawyers in Union Labor Law.

Marisel has held various civic positions with the City of Chicago. Presently, she is the Chairwoman of the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. She also sits on the board of both IIT Kent Law School Institute for Law and the Workplace and the Center for Conflict Resolution.

Education

• B.A., Fordham University, 1979
• M.A., University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1981
• J.D., New York University School of Law, 1982

Paul Hitterman, JD Related Seminars and Products

Regional Attorney

National Labor Relations Board, Region 13

Paul Hitterman has spent his entire career with the National Labor Relations Board. He began as an Appellate Court attorney, where he represented the Board in almost all Courts of Appeals before moving to Chicago as a trial attorney. Since being in Region 13, he has worked to enforce the National Labor Relations Act as an attorney, supervisor, and manager. Since becoming Regional Attorney in 2014, he has been responsible for all of the Region’s legal work.

Brian C. Hlavin, JD Related Seminars and Products

Baum Sigman Auerbach & Neuman, Ltd.

Mr. Hlavin became associated with the firm in 1992, and as of January 1, 2001, became a member of the firm.  He concentrates in the areas of labor, employment, wage and hour, and employee benefits law along with handling other types of litigation brought by or against the firm's clients.  Mr. Hlavin assists in the coordination and supervision of the firm's employment and lab­or services.  He regularly represents labor unions in federal and state court litigation, as well as in proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board, the Illinois State and Local Labor Relations Board, the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, and other federal and state agencies.  Mr. Hlavin litigates grievances brought pursuant to collective bargaining agreements by representing clients at arbitration hearings.  He also provides seminars to various clients in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin on numerous labor and employment issues.

Mr. Hlavin is admitted to the Illinois Supreme Court, the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit, and federal district courts in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin, including the trial bar of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.  He is a member of the AFL-CIO Lawyers' Coordinating Committee.  Mr. Hlavin is a regular contributor and lecturer on labor issues at conferences sponsored by Chicago-Kent College of Law.  He has also lectured and contributed at lawyers' conferences sponsored by the International Union of Operating Engineers, AFL-CIO as well as at Regional Meetings of the AFL-CIO Lawyers' Coordinating Committee, and at the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans seminars.  He contributed to the article, ERISA Benefit Plan's Lien, published by the Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education. Mr. Hlavin received a Bachelor of Science in Commerce from DePaul University and a law degree with distinction from The John Marshall Law School.

Ms. Joyce A. Hofstra Related Seminars and Products

Supervisory Field Examiner

National Labor Relations Board Region13

Joyce A. Hofstra has been a Supervisory Field Examiner at the National Labor Relations Board Chicago Regional office since April 2014. Ms. Hofstra began her career with the NLRB in Chicago as a Field Examiner in 2000. Ms. Hofstra attended Purdue University where she received her B.A. degree in 1999 and was awarded a M.B.A. in 2001.

Matthew S Jarka Related Seminars and Products

Asher Gittler & D'Alba Ltd.

Matt Jarka is a dynamic labor and employment associate attorney with the firm, specializing in representing and defending public and private sector union workers. He is experienced in interest and grievance arbitration, contract negotiations, unfair labor practices, and contract enforcement. Matt also serves individual clients in employment rights, employment discrimination, and wage and hour matters. Matt practices in state and federal courts, and before the Illinois Labor Relations Board, the National Labor Relations Board, the Department of Labor, and various civil service boards.

Additionally, Matt brings extensive trade union experience to the firm with over twenty years of service as a firefighter and paramedic with the Park Ridge Fire Department where he earned promotion to Lieutenant and served for many years as president of IAFF Local #2697.

Mr. Jonathan D. Karmel, JD Related Seminars and Products

Partner

Karmel Law Firm

Attorney Jon Karmel has extensive experience in the labor and employment fields. He is AV Preeminent peer review rated, the highest rating through Martindale-Hubbell. Jon has been named among Chicago’s Top Rated Lawyers, and he was selected for inclusion in the 2013-2019 Illinois Super Lawyers. He serves as an adjunct professor at Emory University School of Law, where he teaches trial advocacy skills. Jon has taught trial advocacy to lawyers and judges in Mexico as their legal system changes to oral advocacy. Recently, Jon lectured to members of the legal profession in Shanghai, China, on cross-border employment issues and the role of arbitration in resolving disputes.

Mr. Wesley Kennedy, JD Related Seminars and Products

Shareholder

Allison, Slutsky & Kennedy, P.C.

Founding shareholder, Allison, Slutsky & Kennedy, P.C., Chicago, Illinois. B.A., with Honors, Grinnell College, 1981; J.D., Yale Law School, 1984.

For nearly 40 years, Wes Kennedy has represented unions, benefit funds and employees – since 1995 as a founding shareholder in Allison, Slutsky & Kennedy, P.C.; and before that as an associate and partner with the firm Cotton, Watt, Jones & King.   Wes has represented clients in the hospitality, transportation, graphic arts, education, construction and other industries.  In addition to general advice and counseling and collective bargaining, Mr. Kennedy has represented clients in matters before various federal and state courts, and federal, state, and local administrative agencies. For a number of years, Wes has devoted much of his practice to representing unions and employees in all manner of grievance and other arbitrations involving contract interpretation and discipline/discharge issues; and in interest arbitrations including complex proceedings arising from the integration of seniority and other rights in mergers and similar transactions. 

Wes is a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, and a Fellow of the American Bar Association. He is a member the ABA’s Section of Labor and Employment Law Committees on the Development of the Law Under the NLRA and on ADR.  He is currently the Union and Employee Co-Chair of the ADR Committee, and Union Vice Chair of the Treatise Committee.  Mr. Kennedy is also a member of the AFL-CIO Union Lawyers Alliance and the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans; and a member of the Advisory Board for the Kenneth Piper Lecture series at Chicago Kent College of Law. He is a frequent speaker at bar association and other conferences.  Mr. Kennedy is the Union co-associate editor of the treatise, How Arbitration Works (2017 and subsequent Supplements).  He is author of "Intermittent Strikes: An Overview From The Union Perspective," 14 The Labor Lawyer 117 (1998); is co-author of “A Touch of ‘Class’ – Immigration and the Intersection of Politics and Protected Section 7 Activity,” 23 The Labor Lawyer 99 (2007), “Twenty-Five Years of Developments in the Law Under the National Labor Relations Act,” 25 ABA Journal of Labor & Employment Law 299 (2010), and "Seniority Integration in the Absence of Mandatory Labor Protective Provisions," in Cleared for Takeoff: Airline Labor Relations Since Deregulation (ILR Press 1988); and has been a contributing author to publications including The Developing Labor Law  (4th, 5th, 6th and 7th Editions and Annual Supplements).

Mr. Jason Kim, JD Related Seminars and Products

Partner

Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg

Jason is a litigator and strategic counselor in all aspects of labor and employment law. He litigates unfair labor practices before the NLRB, arbitrates labor grievances, negotiates and administers collective bargaining agreements, and develops long-term labor strategies to maximize the value and effectiveness of each client’s workforce.

He also litigates and provides daily counsel on matters arising out of the numerous federal and state counterpart statutes governing employers, including FLSA, Title VII, the Family Medical Leave Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. He has extensive experience defending collective and class action wage and hour disputes and conducting wage and hour audits to proactively identify and minimize potential sources of liability.

Jason’s ability to learn the complex layers of each client’s business, build enduring relationships and effectively communicate complicated legal and business concepts helps enable clients to overcome the numerous ongoing labor and employment challenges they face. His clients include health care entities such as nursing homes, senior care facilities, in-home care providers and assisted living centers, as well as manufacturing clients, retail distributors, and meat processing facilities with facilities around the country.

Before joining the firm, Jason served as an occupational safety and health officer for the Illinois Department of Labor. He also served as an environmental policy analyst for the government of the Republic of Korea, and as advisor to the Minister of Environment at the Third Session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development. He teaches classes on ADA, FMLA, FLSA and successfully managing the union relationship at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee in an adjunct capacity.

Jason is a member of the Committee on Practice and Procedure under the National Labor Relations Act of the ABA and a member of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. Jason regularly takes advantage of opportunities to serve the Chicago community. He is a former board member and currently serves on the emeritus board of Chicago Cares, a public and community service organization that works to build stronger communities in Chicago through volunteerism. He previously served as president of the board of directors of Korean American Community Services (KACS), the oldest not-for-profit community social service organization in the Midwest dedicated to serving the needs of the Korean American community. Jason also is an advisory board member of the Korean American Bar Association, having previously served as its treasurer, and a member of the firm’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee.

Roger King Related Seminars and Products

Senior Labor and Employment Counsel

HR Policy Association

Professor Homer C. La Rue Related Seminars and Products

Professor and Arbitrator

Howard University and La Rue Dispute Resolution Services

Professor Homer La Rue teaches lawyering skills, civil procedure, professional responsibility, and dispute resolution. Professor La Rue is one of the founding faculty at the City University of New York School of Law and has experience with the development of a nationally recognized first year clinical experience at the University of Maryland. Professor La Rue also served as the director of clinical education for the District of Columbia School of Law. Professor LaRue has obtained recognition for his work as a clinical teacher. He was voted by his fellow teachers to be the chair of the Association of American Law Schools Section on Clinical Legal Education and served in that capacity from January of 1996 through the annual meeting of the Section in January of 1997. Professor La Rue’s other professional accomplishments include service as a mediator and arbitrator in a variety of disputes. He has also developed programs to assist persons of color in becoming mediators and arbitrators in labor and non-labor disputes.

Professor La Rue is an experienced and highly-sought arbitrator and mediator of workplace and other disputes. He has over thirty-five years of experience in a variety of industries and settings including, but not limited to, airlines, railroads, retail, higher education, telecommunications, public sector state and local government and federal sector. 

Mr. Sang-yul Lee, JD Related Seminars and Products

Partner

K&L Gates

Sang-yul Lee is a partner in the K&L Gates' Chicago office, where he is a member of our labor, employment and workplace safety practice. He has a broadly-based practice and represents clients in both litigation and transaction matters. He advises clients on all aspects of labor and employment law and human resources issues.

Sang-yul has represented clients in non-compete matters, EEO litigation, collective bargaining, organizing campaigns, strikes, arbitrations, layoffs and closures, health and safety investigations, wage and hour audits and collective actions, and union pension/welfare audits. He represents clients before federal and state courts, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the U.S. Department of Labor, and the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, as well as numerous other governmental agencies, in matters arising under a wide range of federal and state labor laws. He also has extensive experience representing parties in employment, separation/severance, change-in-control, independent contractor and restrictive covenant agreements.

Sang-yul has first chair experience in bench and jury trials as well as numerous administrative agency trials and hearings. He has served as primary labor and employment counsel on dozens of M&A transactions and restructuring matters. Additionally, over the years, he has represented numerous international clients in their litigation, labor and employment, and transactional needs in the U.S. He also has the unique experience of having been both the NLRB government agency lawyer, as well as management-side attorney in over 40 federal labor board election petitions and/or contested elections to certify and/or decertify labor organizations (unions). He has negotiated or advised on first time and successor collective bargaining agreements with most of the major labor unions in the country.

Sang-yul has been primary labor and benefits counsel on numerous hotel acquisition, redevelopment and restructuring matters throughout the country. He also has represented hotel owners and managers in investigations by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and state agencies and offices of the Attorney General in privacy, data breach and credit card laundering cases.

Martin H. Malin Related Seminars and Products

Professor of Law Emeritus

Chicago-Kent College of Law

Martin H. Malin jointed the Chicago-Kent faculty in 1980 and taught  Labor Law, Employment Discrimination, Public Sector Employees, ADR in the Workplace, and Contracts. He assumed emeritus status on June 1, 2021. He received his B.A. from Michigan State University's James Madison College and his J.D. from George Washington University, where he was an editor of the law review and elected to the Order of the Coif. Prior to Chicago-Kent, he served as law clerk to United States District Judge Robert E. DeMascio in Detroit and on the faculty of Ohio State University.

In 1996, Malin founded Chicago-Kent’s Institute for Law and the Workplace.  He served as director until his retirement in 2021.  He built the Institute into an intellectual home for the labor and employment law community in Chicago and nationally.  On March 10, 2022, the University renamed the Institute in his honor.  It is now known as the Martin H. Malin Institute for Law and the Workplace.

Malin is a former national chair of the Labor Relations and Employment Law Section of the Association of American Law Schools, a former Secretary of the ABA Section on Labor and Employment Law, a former member of the Executive Committee of The Labor Law Group, and a former member of the Board of Governors and vice president of the National Academy of Arbitrators and a former member of the Board of Governors of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. During 1984 and 1985, Malin served as consultant to the Illinois State, Local and Educational Labor Relations Boards and drafted the boards' regulations implementing the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act and the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act. From 2004 to 2008, he served as reporter to the Neutrality Project of the Association of Labor Relations Agencies, which produced a mini-treatise on labor board and mediation agency impartiality. In October 2009, President Barack Obama appointed Malin as a member of the Federal Service Impasses Panel (FSIP), which resolves impasses in collective bargaining between federal agencies and unions that represent their employees. Obama reappointed Malin in 2014. He served until May 2017 when he and the other Obama appointees were removed by President Trump. In 2021, President Joseph Biden appointed Malin as Chairman of FSIP. In 2016, the ABA presented Malin with the Arvid Anderson Award for lifetime contributions to public sector labor law.

Malin has written extensively on all aspects of labor and employment law. He has published more than 80 articles and seven books, including Public Sector Employment (West 2004, 4th ed. 2022), the leading casebook on the law governing public employees, and Labor Law in the Contemporary Workplace (West 2009, 3rd ed. 2019), a leading casebook on labor law. He has ranked in the top 10 percent of authors in the Social Science Research Network database in terms of downloads of his work

He has a B.A. from Michigan State University and a J.D. from George Washington University.

Mr. Terrance B. McGann, JD Related Seminars and Products

Partner

McGann, Ketterman & Rioux

Mr. McGann graduated from the University of Illinois with honors and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Criminal Justice. He received his Juris Doctor degree from the John Marshall Law School in Chicago. Mr. McGann is licensed to practice law before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Courts of Appeals for the District of Columbia, the Seventh Circuit, the United States District Courts for the Northern District of Illinois, the Southern District of Illinois, the Eastern and Western Districts of Wisconsin and the Northern District of Indiana. Mr. McGann is also licensed to practice law in the State of Illinois. He is a certified member of the Federal Trial Bar.

Mr. McGann concentrates his practice in Labor and Employment Law, Civil Rights Law and Employee Benefits Law. He has lectured and written extensively in the areas of First Amendment rights in labor disputes, defense and prosecution of Title VII actions, the impact of social media in employer relations, federal preemption of state statutes, and litigation and arbitration tactics and strategies. He is a regular speaker for Kent College of Law in Chicago, the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans and an instructor for Illinois Continuing Legal Education Programs. He has consulted as an expert witness in a wide range of labor and employment disputes.

Mr. McGann was appointed by the AFL-CIO to its standing panel of arbitrators for the AFL-CIO Metal Trades’ Department concerning disputes at various nuclear power facilities around the country. He is a long standing member of the Kent College of Law’s Institute for Law and the Workplace. He was appointed by the Governor of the State of Illinois to the Board of Directors for the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority and served in that capacity for several years. Since 2011, Mr. McGann has been recognized by his peers as a Super Lawyer in the State of Illinois.

Mr. Philip A. Miscimarra, JD-MBA Related Seminars and Products

Partner

Morgan Lewis

Philip A. Miscimarra is the former Chairman of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Phil leads the firm’s NLRB special appeals practice and is co-leader of Morgan Lewis Workforce Change, which manages all employment, labor, benefits, and related issues arising from mergers, acquisitions, startups, workforce reductions, and other types of business restructuring. He represents clients on a wide range of labor and employment issues, with a focus on labor-management relations, business acquisitions and restructuring, and employment litigation. Phil is also a Senior Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and the Wharton Center for Human Resources.

Jessica Willis Muth, JD Related Seminars and Products

Deputy Regional Attorney

National Labor Relations Board Region13

Jessica Willis Muth is Deputy Regional Attorney at the National Labor Relations Board, Region 13 where she has worked since her graduation from Tulane University Law School in 1988. During her tenure with the Board she has served as a senior trial attorney and a supervisory attorney. Ms. Willis Muth is also a graduate of Northwestern University with a B.A. in philosophy. 

Daniel N. Nelson Related Seminars and Products

Assistant to the Regional Director for the NLRB Region 13

National Labor Relations Board

Daniel Nelson is the Assistant to the Regional Director for the National Labor Relations Board Region 13 office and has served in this position since 2012. In this position, he assists the Regional Director with the management and processing of cases in the Region with a particular emphasis on representation case matters. Mr. Nelson has been with the agency since 1999 and has spent his entire NLRB career in the Chicago office. Mr. Nelson received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Syracuse University and his Master of Arts in Labor and Industrial Relations from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Peter Sung Ohr, JD Related Seminars and Products

Regional Director, NLRB Region 13

National Labor Relations Board

Since July 22, 2021, Peter has been serving as the Deputy General Counsel of the NLRB. During his 25-year career with the NLRB, he has served as Acting General Counsel, Regional Director, Deputy Assistant General Counsel, and Field Attorney. Peter is licensed to practice law in District of Columbia, Hawaii (inactive), and Illinois (inactive). He is an alumnus of Cerritos Community College, UC-Riverside, Pepperdine, and Hawaii Pacific.

Mr. Jason Patterson, JD Related Seminars and Products

Associate

Franczek P.C.

Jason advises employers on all aspects of employment law including workplace discrimination, health and safety, wage and hour, whistleblowing, employee handbooks, termination, and disciplinary action. Jason also counsels employers in traditional labor matters including collective-bargaining, union organizing campaigns, grievance arbitration, and matters before federal and state labor boards.

Before joining the firm, Jason was a Trial Attorney at the United States Department of Labor, Office of the Solicitor (DOL), and a Field Attorney with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). At the DOL, Jason advised and litigated enforcement actions on behalf of the Department’s sub-agencies, including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), the Wage and Hour Division, the Office of Federal Contractor Compliance Programs (OFCCP), and the Whistleblowing Protection Program. At the NLRB, Jason represented the General Counsel and the Regional Director in unfair labor practice and representation proceedings. Jason’s experience working in and representing government enforcement agencies allows him to provide employers unique insight when responding to government investigations, litigation, and counseling on compliance.

Jason is active in the community, dedicating his time to several programs tasked with mentoring youth from challenging backgrounds. Jason is also a past member of the University of Illinois College of Law Alumni Board.

In his spare time, Jason enjoys performing jazz music as a vibraphonist, and spending time with his wife and two sons.

Mark Gaston Pearce, JD Related Seminars and Products

Executive Director of the Workers' Rights Institute, Georgetown Law and FSIP Member

Workers' Rights Institute, Georgetown Law

Mr. Arthur Pearlstein, JD Related Seminars and Products

Director of Arbitration

Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services

Mr. Paul Prokop Related Seminars and Products

Supervisory Field Examiner

National Labor Relations Board Region13

Paul Prokop has worked for Region 13 of the National Labor Relations Board for over 20 years. He started as a field examiner, and in 2012 was promoted to Supervisory Field Examiner. As a field examiner, Mr. Prokop investigated unfair labor practice charges, processed representation petitions, served as a hearing officer in representation case proceedings, and conducted Board elections. As a supervisor, Mr. Prokop oversees a team of field examiners and field attorneys. He received his B.A. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he later completed his M.A. in labor and industrial relations. 

Mr. John F. Ring, JD Related Seminars and Products

Chairman

National Labor Relations Board

John F. Ring was sworn in on April 16, 2018 for a term ending on December 16, 2022. Mr. Ring was confirmed by the Senate on April 11, 2018.

On April 12, 2018, President Donald J. Trump named Mr. Ring Chairman of the National Labor Relations Board.

Prior to his appointment to the NLRB, Mr. Ring served as a partner with the law firm Morgan Lewis. He has represented client interests in collective bargaining, employee benefits, litigation, counseling, and litigation avoidance strategies. He has an extensive background negotiating and administering collective bargaining agreements, most notably in the context of workforce restructuring and multiemployer bargaining. Mr. Ring received his J.D. and B.A. from Catholic University of America.

Ms. Vivian Schmitter, JD Related Seminars and Products

General Counsel

Teamsters Local 743

Mr. Harry A. Secaras, JD Related Seminars and Products

Shareholder

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart PC

Mr. Secaras counsels and represents employers throughout the country in employment matters including traditional labor matters (compliance with the National Labor Relations Act, collective bargaining and grievance/ arbitration matters), employment law issues (including issues arising under Title VII, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and the Occupational Safety and Health Act) and employment-related litigation in federal and state courts and before federal, state and local administrative agencies.

Ms. Kathryn E. Siegel, JD Related Seminars and Products

Shareholder

Littler Mendelson PC

Kathryn Siegel advises and represents employers in matters of employment law and labor relations before federal and state courts, federal agencies, such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the National Labor Relations Board, and state employment agencies. She handles class action wage and hour matters and works with clients regarding employment discrimination and harassment in matters related to:

• Title VII
• The American with Disabilities Act
• The Age Discrimination in Employment Act
• The Family and Medical Leave Act
• The Illinois Human Rights Act

She also has experience in labor relations, including arbitration, collective bargaining, union elections and unfair labor practice charges, and providing advice regarding the National Labor Relations Act.

Kathryn serves as the Illinois liaison for Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute (WPI). Kathryn focuses on Illinois state legislative and regulatory developments in employment and labor law, as well as municipal ordinances and regulation of the workplace. She assists the employer community in understanding and impacting Illinois legislation before it becomes law.

In law school, Kathryn was founder of the Vanderbilt Labor and Employment Law Society.  After college, Kathryn took master’s degree coursework in French Literature and taught beginning French at Miami University. 

Ms. Diane I. Smason, JD Related Seminars and Products

Deputy Director

U.S. EEOC, Chicago District Office

Todd Steenson, JD Related Seminars and Products

Assistant General Counsel in the Labor and Employment Group

Exelon Corporation

Mr. Mark L. Stolzenburg, JD Related Seminars and Products

Partner

Morgan, Lewis, & Bockius LLP

Mr. Joseph James Torres, JD Related Seminars and Products

Partner and Chair, ERISA Litigation Practice and Co-chair, Labor and Employment Practice

Jenner & Block LLP

Mr. Torres is chair of Jenner & Block's ERISA Litigation Practice and co-chair of its Labor and Employment Practice.  He concentrates his practice in labor, employment and ERISA litigation before the state and federal trial and appellate courts, as well as administrative agencies such as the NLRB, the EEOC, the DOL and OSHA in a wide variety of discrimination, employee benefit, whistleblower, retaliation and other labor and employment claims arising under state and federal law.

Mr. Torres also advises clients on collective bargaining relationships and labor disputes, including formulation of bargaining strategies, contract administration, maintenance of operations during labor disputes and responses to “corporate” campaigns.

Additionally, Mr. Torres has a broad range of experience representing clients in matters arising under ERISA.  He has defended clients in claims for vested retiree benefits, alleged wrongful denial of or interference with employee benefits and breach of fiduciary duty.  He has also represented clients in complex withdrawal liability matters involving multiemployer pension plans.  Mr. Torres has considerable experience in the analysis and interpretation of ERISA-governed plans and has defended clients in audits involving union-sponsored health and welfare plans, as well as advising clients contemplating the establishment, modification or termination of employee benefits plans.

Mr. Torres represents clients in the negotiation of employment and related agreements, both for individuals and in connection with corporate transactions and reductions-in-force, and has extensive experience in the areas of covenants not to compete, including the protection of trade secrets and other proprietary information.  In addition, Mr. Torres advises clients on the establishment and maintenance of employment policies, wage payment and compensation issues and the development and implementation of effective human resources strategies.

Mr. Christopher Williams, JD Related Seminars and Products

Co-Director

National Legal Advocacy Network

Chris was one of the founders and the first Director of the Working Hands Legal Clinic (now the Raise the Floor Alliance) in Chicago, a non-profit legal clinic that worked with a network of community-based worker centers to support workplace justice campaigns and to bring access to legal services for low wage Illinois workers in the area of labor and employment law. While Director, Chris advised the Illinois legislature on a number of pieces of legislation designed to protect the rights of Illinois’ most vulnerable workers, from the Illinois Day and Temporary Labor Services Act to the Illinois Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act, creating protections against abuse of the E-Verify system. In 2011, Chris left WHLC to start his own practice, Workers’ Law Office, PC, and now works with a national network of worker centers addressing workplace abuses in a variety of industries, from temp workers, restaurant workers, warehouse workers and domestic workers. Chris has been lead counsel or co-counseled in over 400 wage and hour and employment discrimination cases, including 45 class actions. Prior to practicing law, Chris spent over a decade as a union organizer for Chicago area labor unions and was a founding member of a Chicago-based worker center.

Steve A. Yokich, JD Related Seminars and Products

Partner

Dowd, Bloch, Bennett, Cervone, Auerbach & Yokich, LLP

Dale D. Pierson Related Seminars and Products

International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 150, AFL-CIO

Dale D. Pierson became General Counsel to the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 150, AFL-CIO, on May 1, 2002.  Prior to that time, Dale worked in private practice representing labor unions, fringe benefit trust funds, and individual workers since his graduation from Northwestern University Law School in 1982.  Throughout his career, Dale has been proud to work with some of the best lawyers in the United States in helping working people secure fair wages, adequate healthcare, and a comfortable retirement.

Dale believes that the most important protection working people and their families have is the right to bargain collectively over wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of their employment.  Protection of the right to strike in support of those goals is essential.  

In 1995 and 1999, Dale served as Labor Counsel to the Fraternal Order of Police, Chicago Lodge No. 7, in its negotiations for collectively bargained agreements with the City of Chicago.  Since beginning the Local 150 Legal Department in 2002, Dale has worked with a team of lawyers and legal professionals that is second to none.  They have successfully coordinated the legal strategy in multiple strikes, helped pass the Workers’ Rights Amendment, and continue to defend the First Amendment rights of Scabby the Rat.

Born on the southwest side of Chicago, Dale is a lifelong White Sox fan.  Throughout high school and college, Dale worked for his family’s union construction company as a laborer, carpenter, and equipment operator.  He earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois.  Dale based his NIU Master’s degree in labor history on his thesis, “Peter J. McGuire and the Origins of Pure and Simple Unionism.”  It was at NIU where he met his wife of 44 years, Loretta “Lori” Pierson.  She retired from her job as a legal secretary for Jenner & Block, and now has more time for several quilt guilds, numerous nieces and nephews, playing Wordle, and monitoring the Royals.

Khristian G. Parker Related Seminars and Products

General Counsel

Teamsters Local Union No. 705

Khristian G. Parker is General Counsel for Teamsters Local 705. Khristian joined Teamsters Local 705 in 2017 as its first African-American and second woman to serve as general counsel in Local 705’s history. As general counsel, her role is to create and execute the union’s legal strategies, represent the local in federal and state court, and other administrative agencies including the NLRB, ILRB, and EEOC. Khristian also represents the union and membership in grievance arbitration hearings and advises the union’s Executive Board regarding the day-to-day administration of the union.

Prior to her current position, she was staff specialist attorney for the Illinois Nurses Association, and she was a judicial extern for the Honorable Mark J. Lopez, Circuit Court of Cook County (retired).

Additionally, Khristian is an adjunct professor at Northern Illinois University College of Law teaching labor law. Khristian is currently a member of the Cook County Bar Association, the Union Lawyer Alliance of the AFL-CIO, the Institute for Law in the Workplace, and sits on the Alumni Council for Northern Illinois University College of Law. 

Khristian received her law degree from Northern Illinois University College of Law, and her undergraduate degree from the University of Miami.