AI in Labor & Employment Law: Myths, Realities, and Ethical Considerations

Steven M. Bierig Related Seminars and Products

Attorney-Arbitrator-Mediator

Steven M. Bierig is engaged in the full-time practice of arbitration and mediation specializing in labor and employment disputes on a national basis. He has received both Ad Hoc appointments as well as being a member of numerous arbitration panels. Those panels have included the USPS and its constituent Unions, the City of Chicago and its constituent Unions, the Chicago Board of Education and Chicago Teachers Union, the State of Illinois and AFSCME, the National Elevator Bargaining Association, the FAA and NATCA, the AFA and IBT and United Airlines. Mr. Bierig has served as a contract mediator for the EEOC and is the mediator of medical disputes between the City of Chicago and the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #7. In 2016 and 2019, Mr. Bierig served as the Fact-Finder for the Chicago Board of Education and the Chicago Teachers Union. Mr. Bierig is a referee for the National Mediation Board and is affiliated with FMCS, AAA and the Illinois Department of Labor. He serves on the roster of arbitrators for the Illinois Labor and Educational Relations Board. He is a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators and a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers.

Mr. Bierig has served as an Adjunct Professor at IIT/Chicago Kent College of Law, He currently serves as an instructor at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee and is an Adjunct Professor at the UIC School of Law. He has written numerous articles on labor and employment issues and lectures frequently on the topic.

Mr. Bierig received his J.D. with high honors from IIT/Chicago Kent College of Law. Prior to becoming a full time neutral, Mr. Bierig was engaged in the practice of labor law on the management side as a Senior Attorney Supervisor at the City of Chicago Law Department and was an attorney in the Labor and Employment Department at the Chicago Office of Katten Muchin & Zavis.

Nicole Chaney Related Seminars and Products

Director of Labor and Employment

Cook County Assessor's Office

Nicole L. Chaney is the Director of Labor & Employment at the Cook County Assessor’s Office and an Adjunct Professor at Loyola University Chicago School of Law.  

Nicole previously served as Chief Legal Counsel for Teamsters Local 700 where she represented public sector employees.  She also served as Senior Labor Counsel for the Cook County Bureau of Human Resources Labor Division where she supervised the hearing officers for Offices Under the Cook County Board President, and she worked at the Veterans Legal Clinic at UIC Law where she helped veterans appeal improperly-denied benefits claims and provided other pro bono services. Nicole has led her clients to victory in forums throughout the state of Illinois, and she has litigated at nearly every level, including but not limited to the Illinois Labor Relations Board, Cook and DuPage County Circuit Courts, 1st and 2nd District Appellate Courts, Illinois Supreme Court, Northern District of Illinois, and 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Nicole earned her Juris Doctor from UIC Law where she served as Articles Editor for the Review of Intellectual Property Law. During law school, Nicole travelled to India to study International Human Rights with Touro Law School. 

Nicole obtained her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan where she double-majored in American Culture and English Language & Literature and minored in Gender, Race, and Ethnicity.  

Peter McNamara Related Seminars and Products

Staff Attorney

International Union of Operation Engineers, Local 399

Peter Conrad McNamara is the Staff Attorney and lead trial counsel for the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 399, representing its over 10,000 members. He is a member of the Northern District of Illinois Trial Bar and is licensed to practice before the Seventh Circuit.

Mr. McNamara's experience spans both sides of the employment relationship. Prior to his current role, he served as Chief Attorney for Labor & Employment at the Chicago Transit Authority and handled labor & employment cases for the Federal Aviation Administration. His legal career began with the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 150. He also serves as a member of the Chicago Bar Association's Board of Managers and as an arbitrator for the Circuit Court of Cook County’s Mandatory Arbitration program.

Active in his adopted hometown of Park Ridge, Mr. McNamara received the 2019 Park Ridge Beautification Award, served as Chair of the Park Ridge Board of Fire & Police Commissioners, and coached in local youth baseball and basketball leagues. A first-generation American with roots in Peru and Ireland, he places family first. His proudest titles are "father" to Jack (9), Isla (6), and River (2), and "husband" to Eva, who lovingly—and not begrudgingly—supports his dream of one day breaking 80 in golf.

Mr. McNamara is a proud graduate of DePaul University and Southern Illinois University School of Law, where he served as Associate Editor of the Journal of Legal Medicine.