Hot Topics in Contemporary Labor Relations Law Conference

Jennifer Abruzzo Related Seminars and Products

General Counsel

National Labor Relations Board

Jennifer A. Abruzzo began serving as General Counsel for the National Labor Relations Board nn July 22, 2021, .  Ms. Abruzzo had previously worked for the NLRB for over two decades, including as Field Attorney, Supervisory Field Attorney, Deputy Regional Attorney, Deputy Assistant General Counsel, Deputy General Counsel, and Acting General Counsel.  Immediately prior to her appointment as General Counsel, Ms. Abruzzo served as Special Counsel for Strategic Initiatives for the Communications Workers of America.

Librado Arreola Related Seminars and Products

Partner

Marco, McGuire & Arreola, LLC

Librado has been practicing law since 1990. Librado worked for nine years at the National Labor Relations Board, Chicago Regional office, and was a Trial Specialist. He serves as counsel to several unions and to a number of multiemployer ERISA benefit funds, including pension, welfare, and training and apprenticeship funds, in a variety of industries. He currently serves as the General Counsel to the United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers, AFL-CIO, located in Washington, DC.

His practice focuses on counseling unions regarding governmental compliance issues, internal union governance, enforcement of collective bargaining agreements, including all aspects of NLRB representation, and unfair labor practice work and labor arbitration, as well as negotiating collective bargaining agreements and defending the " duty of fair representation" lawsuits and NLRB charges.

In the context of representing ERISA multiemployer funds, Librado provides counsel regarding governmental compliance issues, including advising Trust Funds on Department of Labor investigations, collection litigation, drafting procedures for collecting delinquent employer contributions, drafting Summary Plan Descriptions, revising plan documents, plan interpretation issues, advising Trust Funds on benefit eligibility and related issues, subrogation issues, providing legal advice at Trustee meetings, counseling Fund Administrators and staff, advising relevant parties of their fiduciary duties, advising clients of recent pertinent legislation, defending benefit funds in benefit eligibility litigation and negotiating and preparing contracts with service providers.

Librado is a member of the American Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association, and the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois. He has spoken on items of interest concerning labor and employee benefits law and has delivered presentations at both the local and national levels concerning, among other issues, the duty of fair representation, practice before the NLRB, and representing immigrant workers. He has also appeared in the federal and state courts in Illinois, and before the Illinois Appellate Court. Librado is fluent in Spanish.

Dr. Jim Beyer, JD Related Seminars and Products

Axiom Global

With over three decades of expertise in labor and employment law, Jim Beyer has cultivated a distinguished career marked by strategic planning, exceptional communication skills, and a unique blend of empathy, influence, and humor to achieve positive client outcomes. Currently, Jim is with Axiom Global, providing full time employment law services to Hilton, recognized by Fortune as the world’s top workplace.

In his previous role as the Global Head of Employment & Immigration Law at Infosys, a Fortune 500 multinational consulting and outsourcing services company, Jim successfully managed all aspects of employment and immigration law, contributing significantly to the company's multibillion-dollar growth. During his 13+ year tenure as the Director of Employment Law at Accenture, he played a pivotal role as its first inhouse labor and employment lawyer, guiding the company through its IPO and achieving an exceptional employee engagement score of 100% for three consecutive years.

Jim also served as a Senior Labor and Employment Counsel at General Electric for four years. Jim was also Senior Counsel with Seyfarth Shaw, an AmLaw 100 firm, where he provided valuable counsel to multinational corporations on labor and employment law matters.

Jim has also been an Adjunct Law Professor at Chicago-Kent for many years. He was also recently named to the Chicago-Kent Board of Directors. Recognized for his contributions to the labor and employment profession, Jim was elected as a Fellow in The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers in 2006.

David Born Related Seminars and Products

Commissionor

Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service (FMCS)

Commissioner David Born has worked for the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) in the Chicago area for over 20 years. He previously served as the Regional Director of the former Chicago Region covering Illinois, Indiana and southern Wisconsin for over 5 years. Mr. Born and his local colleagues mediate labor and employment disputes in several sectors including private, public and federal. In his current role, Mr. Born provides services including grievance mediation, labor- management committee training and facilitation, relationship development and training programs, and other conflict resolution training. During his FMCS career, Mr. Born has had the honor of

being involved in several unique projects such as two missions to Haiti to establish conflict resolution systems and teach mediation skills in the garment industry; participate in the Department of Education's initiative to promote collaboration between school boards and educators; and since 2010 has worked with the City of Chicago Labor Management Committee for Healthcare, a two- time FMCS grant recipient for collaborative programs. Prior to Mr. Born’s employment with FMCS, he worked for the Teamsters in Chicago as an organizer, grievance representative and negotiator. He also worked for the National Labor Relations Board as an investigator and hearing officer. Mr. Born

earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Illinois and a master’s degree in labor and industrial relations from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

David Christlieb Related Seminars and Products

Shareholder

Littler Mendelson P.C.

David L. Christlieb litigates in a broad range of employment law areas. A member of the firm's Class Action Practice Group, David's litigation experience includes complex nationwide collective and class actions under:

• The Fair Labor Standards Act
• Title VII
• Section 1981
• Various state statutes

He has represented clients, including manufacturers, retailers, restaurants and consulting firms, in federal and state courts and in arbitrations and mediations before the Illinois Department of Human Rights, the National Labor Relations Board, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, and the Department of Labor. David is frequently called upon to cross-examine or depose expert witnesses including economists, statisticians, psychologists, and sociologists. Among David's notable successes, he has successfully argued an appeal in a discrimination lawsuit for a national manufacturer before the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, has won a high-stakes unfair labor practice trial over allegations that his client’s lockout of union employees was unlawful, and tried one of the first cases applying the “strike then lockout” exception to New Jersey’s unemployment compensation law. He has provided pro bono representation of indigent students in school expulsion cases. David serves as the hiring shareholder in Littler Mendelson's Chicago office, and developed a litigation training program for associates. In addition to his law degree, David holds a masters degree in human resources and industrial relations from the University of Illinois. In law school, he served as the notes editor for the Elder Law Journal.

Professional and Community Affiliations

• Member, Illinois State Bar Association
• Member, Chicago Bar Association

Recognition

• Recipient, Rickert Award for Excellence in Legal Publications

Elizabeth S. Cortez Related Seminars and Products

Attorney

National Labor Relations Board, Region 13

 Elizabeth Cortez has been an attorney with Region 13 of the National Labor Relations Board, for 22 years. Ms. Cortez also serves as the Region’s EEO Counselor. Ms. Cortez earned a law degree from The John Marshall Law School and a BA in Political Science from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Prior to law school, Ms. Cortez worked for the Illinois Department of Human Rights as an Investigator. 

Sabreena El-Amin Related Seminars and Products

Partner

CTM Legal Group

Sabreena El-Amin is a Partner at CTM Legal Group, LLC. Sabreena focuses her practice on litigation with an area focus on labor and employment rights. She has represented corporate and individual clients in a broad range of areas including condominium owners' rights, discrimination, wage and hour, leave laws, labor rights, divorce, and breach of contract. Sabreena has practiced in a variety of forums including local, state, and federal administrative agencies, trial courts, and appellate courts. Sabreena also has extensive experience conducting investigations and advising corporate clients on employment matters, including drafting policies and handbooks.

Prior to joining CTM, Sabreena served as the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the City of Chicago's Office of the Inspector General. Sabreena's primary responsibility in this role was investigating the policies and practices of the Chicago Police Department for evidence of discrimination and bias as required by the Consent Decree entered in Illinois v. Chicago. Sabreena also assisted with misconduct investigations of City vendors, employees, and officials, consulted on program reviews for other City departments, and coordinated the office's diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.

Sabreena gained litigation experience as a Labor and Employment associate representing various management-side clients at large Chicago law firms. Sabreena earned her JD from Harvard Law School, where she served as a contributor and editor of the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Justice and the Journal of Law and Mind Sciences. During law school, Sabreena clerked at a civil rights law firm where she assisted in representing individuals in police misconduct matters. Sabreena also served as the President of the Student Association of Law and Mind Sciences and Street Law Chair for the Black Law Student Association where she coordinated efforts for law students to go into the community and teach individuals their rights and responsibilities under the law.

Sabreena earned a BA in Psychology from DePaul University. During her time at DePaul, Sabreena interned with the Egan Urban Center developing, implementing, and evaluating programs focused on social justice and community development. Sabreena is a native of Chicago's South Side and a graduate of Whitney Young High School.

Sabreena currently serves as an Adjunct Professor teaching Professional Identity at Loyola University College of Law and Lawyering Skills 2 at UIC College of Law . She also volunteers her time as a mentor for various legal pipeline programs including Council for Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO), PILI, and Just the Beginning Foundation and for iMentor.

Sabreena's commitment to public interest law has led to a rewarding pro bono practice and connection with the Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI) where she has served as an intern, fellow, board member, and Co-Chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Working Group. She currently serves as a Founding Member of the Young Professionals Board and member of the JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) Committee to the Executive Board.

Sabreena has been named a Rising Star by Thomson Reuters, a One to Watch by Best Lawyers Midwest, 40 under 40 by the Black Women's Professional League, Distinguished Alumni by the Public Interest Law Initiative, and Outstanding Urban Professional of the Year from the African American Contractor Association (AACA).

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.

Richard F. Griffin Jr. Related Seminars and Products

Of Counsel

Bredhoff & Kaiser, P.L.L.C.

Richard F. Griffin, Jr. is Of Counsel at the Washington, DC law firm of Bredhoff & Kaiser, where he represents unions, employee benefit funds, labor-management cooperation trusts, and individuals, and serves as a mediator. He has also taught labor law, and is the co-author, with Seth Harris, Anne Lofaso, Charlotte Garden, and Joseph Slater, of Modern Labor Law in the Private and Public Sectors: Cases and Materials, 3rd Ed., Carolina Academic Press, 2021.

Prior to joining Bredhoff & Kaiser, from November 4, 2013 through October 31, 2017, Mr. Griffin was the Senate-confirmed General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), overseeing the prosecution of unfair labor practice cases and the defense of the Board’s decisions in court, culminating in his arguing Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis on the Board’s behalf in the Supreme Court. Before becoming NLRB General Counsel, Mr. Griffin served as a recess-appointed NLRB Board Member from January 2012 through August 2013. From 1983 through his appointment as a Board Member, Mr. Griffin worked in the legal department of the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE); from September 1994 until January 2012, he was the IUOE’s General Counsel. While IUOE General Counsel, Mr. Griffin was on the AFL-CIO Lawyers Advisory Panel and was a member of the Board of Directors of the AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee. From 1981 to 1983, Mr. Griffin served as staff counsel to two NLRB Board Members. He is a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers and of the American Bar Foundation. He graduated from Yale College (BA 1977) and Northeastern University Law School (JD 1981).

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.  

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.

Michael Hughes Related Seminars and Products

Partner, Labor & Employment Group

Amundsen Davis, LLC

As the National Labor Relations Board advocates in favor of unions and makes it more difficult for employers to communicate the potential ill effects of unionization, the climate between employers and union members becomes more treacherous. Mike works with employers in traditional labor relations matters by preparing statements of position, investigating grievances and litigating matters in response to filings of unfair labor practices with the National Labor Relations Board.

Mike counsels employers on labor relations, including compliance with federal and state statutes and regulations regarding Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act and the National Labor Relations Act. He represents employers facing litigation matters, such as discrimination charges, union organizing drives, collective bargaining, arbitration, and employment contracts and restrictive covenant disputes.

Additionally, Mike provides counsel to clients involved in immigration matters with regard to employment and compliance. He regularly assists employers in obtaining H-1B visas for temporary foreign employees and conducts compliance audits of I-9 forms and employer work authorization obligations.

Natasha E. Jenkins, JD Related Seminars and Products

Associate

Clark Hill PLC

Ms. Jenkins is a Labor & Employment Attorney at the law firm of Littler Mendelson P.C. which is the largest labor and employment law firm in the U.S.

Before Littler, she was a Labor Relations Manager & Arbitration Attorney for United Airlines, Inc. In that role, she served as lead counsel in grievance proceedings, mediations, and arbitrations to ensure that collective bargaining agreements and disciplinary procedures were consistently enforced across company divisions.

Ms. Jenkins formerly served as General Counsel of Teamsters Local 700 and before that she served as Senior Attorney for the Chicago Transit Authority, where she represented the Authority in complex employment lawsuits and labor matters. Before CTA, she served as Labor & Employment Counsel for the Illinois Department of Central Management Services, representing over 20 Illinois state agencies in labor arbitrations involving employee discharge or contract disputes. Ms. Jenkins is also a former Assistant Attorney General, where she practiced civil litigation.

Ms. Jenkins is also the immediate past president of the Cook County Bar Association (CCBA), which is the oldest association of African American lawyers and judges in the nation, founded in 1914. She was the youngest woman president in the organization’s history.

Ms. Jenkins received a B.A. from Hamilton College in 2007 and a J.D. from UIC Law School in 2012. Moreover, her experience as a legal advocate in both the public and private sector allow her to zealously advocate on behalf of her clients.

In her spare time, she loves to travel, cook and spend time with her family.

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).

Kevin J Kinney Related Seminars and Products

Shareholder

Olgetree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak, P.C.

Kevin J Kinney has been practicing labor and employment law since his graduation from Marquette University Law School. He currently serves as chair of the firm's Mergers and Acquisitions Practice Group.

Kevin's practice centers on all matters arising under the National Labor Relations Act, including union organizing and unfair labor practices, NLRB proceedings, arbitration and labor audits. He regularly negotiates collective bargaining agreements that address leading issues such as retiree benefits and wage restructuring. His practice includes Title VII litigation. A significant portion of his practice involves non-compete and confidentiality agreement litigation. Kevin has litigated lead NLRB cases dealing with product tampering, multi-employer bargaining units, temporary employees, supervisory status and a host of issues arising out of organizing activity. Kevin was named to the list of the Top 100 Labor Attorneys in the United States as compiled by Labor Relations Institute, Inc., and has been selected for inclusion since 2010 in The Best Lawyers in America, and was just named by Best Lawyers as the 2023 Management Litigation, Labor and Employment "Lawyer of the Year." He has also been selected for inclusion as a Key Individual and Band ranked attorney since 2011 by Chambers USA America's Leading Lawyers for Business. Kevin has been named a Wisconsin Super Lawyer since 2006.

Charles R. Kiser Related Seminars and Products

Associate General Counsel

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

- Chicago-Kent College of Law Class of 2000

- Admitted in: Illinois, the United States District Courts for the Northern District of Illinois and Northern District of Indiana, and the 6th, 7th, and D.C. Circuit Courts of Appeals

Charles was fortunate to be born into a proud union family in Boston, Massachusetts.  Although he has lived in Chicago for 35 years, that Boston accent slips through from time to time.  Charles’ dad drove a truck as a member of the Teamsters for 32 years and showed him that there truly is power in the union.  As a result, Charles has proudly been representing working people and labor unions for almost 25 years, with most of that time spent as in-house counsel for IUOE Local 150.

He practices regularly before Arbitrators, the NLRB: primarily in Regions 13 and 25; in federal district courts, and every so often in the federal circuit courts of appeal - generally, wherever the battle must be joined to safeguard workers’ rights.

As an Associate General Counsel for IUOE Local 150, Charles has successfully fought against the imposition of covenants not to compete and non-disclosure agreements on bargaining unit members.  Minteq International Inc., 364 NLRB 721 (2016), enf’d by Minteq International Inc. v. NLRB, 855 F.3d 329 (D.C. Circuit, 2017).  He also actively works to protect employees’ and the Union’s lawful right to protest, picket, and strike, peacefully, those employers who violate labor law.  And, as a result, Charles has had the honor of defending the free speech, protest rights of the coolest rat in town, Scabby.  IUOE Local 150 (Lippert Components, Inc.), 2019 WL 3073999 (JD-57-19, July 15, 2019); IUOE Local 150 (Maglish Plumbing, Heating and Electric, LLC), 371 NLRB No. 18 (2021).

Mary Ellen LaCien Related Seminars and Products

Mediator

Mary Ellen has a MSIR from Loyola University. She worked as a Field Examiner at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for 7 years and as a Mediator for the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) for 9 years prior to starting her own mediation practice. At FMCS, the core work was mediating collective bargaining and discrimination disputes, and training labor and management in communication, conflict resolution and interest-based bargaining. In addition, she worked with schools in establishing peer mediation programs and training students in communication,problem-solving and conflict resolution.

In her mediation practice, she primarily mediates employment discrimination claims. She also works with students on developing Social Emotional Learning (SEL) skills. SEL skills encompass self awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.

Anne Marie Lofaso Related Seminars and Products

Professor of Law

West Virginia University Law School

Anne Marie Lofaso is the Arthur B. Hodges Professor of Law at West Virginia University College of Law, where she teaches Labor Law, Employment Law, Advanced Labor Law, Comparative and International Work Law, Jurisprudence, Law and Socioeconomics, and in the WVU U.S. Supreme Court Clinic (which she co-founded with Jones Day Partner, Larry Rosenberg, in 2011). She was formerly the WVU Law Associate Dean for Faculty Research and Development (2011-2015) and a Leadership Fellow in the WVU Office of the Associate Vice President for Creative and Scholarly Activities. She has previously taught at American University Washington College of Law and at the University of Oxford.

Dr. Lofaso has extensive law practice experience. She spent ten years as an attorney with the National Labor Relations Board’s Appellate and Supreme Court Branches. Prior to that, she worked as an associate for Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy’s Business Reorganization Department and clerked for the Hon. James L. Oakes, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Dr. Lofaso is a prolific writer in the fields of labor law, work law jurisprudence, and coal mine safety and health and has been published in numerous law reviews including the Harvard Law and Policy Review. Her casebook, Modern Labor Law in the Private and Public Sectors (Lexis Publishing with Harris, Slater, and Garden), now in its second edition, and her textbook, Mastering Labor Law (Carolina Academic Press with Secunda, Hirsch, and Slater), are the among the first U.S. labor-law-education books to treat both private and public-sector labor law.

Martin H. Malin Related Seminars and Products

Chairman

Federal Service Impasses Panel, FLRA

Martin H. Malin is Professor Emeritus at Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology, where he taught for 41 years, founded the Institute for Law and the Workplace, and served as Director of the Institute for 25 years. He joined the Chicago-Kent faculty in 1980 after serving as law clerk to United States District Judge Robert E. DeMascio in Detroit and on the faculty of The Ohio State University. A renown scholar on the law governing the workplace, he has published more than 80 articles and seven books on labor law. Professor Malin has served as National Chair of the Labor Relations and Employment Law Section of the Association of American Law Schools, Secretary of the ABA Section on Labor and Employment Law, member of the Executive Committee of the Labor Law Group, member of the Board of Governors and Vice President of the National Academy of Arbitrators, and member of the Board of Governors of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. In October 2009, President Obama appointed Professor Malin as a member of the Federal Service Impasses Panel. President Obama reappointed Professor Malin in 2014 and Malin served until May 2017. In 2016, the ABA presented Professor Malin with the Arvid Anderson Award for lifetime contributions to public sector labor law. He has a B.A. from Michigan State University and a J.D. from George Washington University.

Lauren McFerran Related Seminars and Products

Chairman

National Labor Relations Board

Chairman Lauren McFerran served as a Member of the NLRB from December 17, 2014 until December 16, 2019. On July 29, 2020, the Senate confirmed her renomination as a Board Member for a term expiring on December 16, 2024.

 On January 20, 2021, President Joseph R. Biden named Ms. McFerran Chairman of the National Labor Relations Board.

Previous to her appointment to the NLRB, Ms. McFerran served as Chief Labor Counsel for the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP Committee) and had also served the Committee as Deputy Staff Director under Senator Tom Harkin.  She began on the HELP Committee as Senior Labor Counsel for Senator Ted Kennedy.  Before her work in the United States Senate, Ms. McFerran was an associate at Bredhoff & Kaiser, P.L.L.C. and served as a law clerk for Chief Judge Carolyn Dineen King on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.  Ms. McFerran received a B.A. from Rice University and a J.D. from Yale Law School.

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.

Cristina Ortega Related Seminars and Products

Compliance Officer

National Labor Relations Board, Region 13

Cristina Ortega is a Labor Management Relations Examiner (Compliance Officer) at the National Labor Relations Board Chicago Regional Office. Cristina earned her J. D. in 2010 from Northern Illinois University College of Law and her B.A. in 2003 from the University of Mary Washington.

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.

Matthew Persons Related Seminars and Products

Officer in Charge

NLRB Subregion 33

Matthew Persons is the Officer in Charge of NLRB Subregion 33 in Peoria, Illinois. He started his career in Chicago at Region 13 as a Field Examiner in 2003 through the NLRB’s student cooperative education program. Matthew graduated with Bachelors of Arts in Philosophy and Religious Studies and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Michigan State University and earned his Master of Labor Relations & Human Resources from its School of Labor & Industrial Relations in 2004.

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.

Abby Rogers Related Seminars and Products

Partner

Engler, Callaway, Baasten & Sraga, LLC

Abby Rogers maintains a broad-based labor and employment practice, with decades of experience representing governmental entities and private sector clients.  Ms. Rogers focuses on general employment relationship issues, labor relations matters and collective bargaining.  Ms. Rogers divides her practice equally between counseling clients and defending clients in litigation, including labor arbitration, administrative and judicial proceedings.  She has extensive experience with the FMLA and with medical and disability issues in the workplace.  In addition, Ms. Rogers regularly lectures and conducts workforce training on issues related to non-discrimination and anti-harassment, managing medical issues and leaves of absence in the workplace, and managing other workplace concerns. She is a contributing author on “Sex Discrimination and Harassment,” to the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education publication Employment Discrimination: Unlawful Grounds and Prevention (2021) and a contributing author on “Freedom of Speech in the Public Workplace,” to the American Bar Association publication Municipal Law Desk Book (2015).

Melissa Sobota Related Seminars and Products

Partner

Franczek P.C.

Melissa concentrates her practice in both labor and employment law. Her labor experience includes collective bargaining for schools and higher education institutions, municipalities, and county employers. She has experience handling union certification petitions, severance petitions, as well as litigating unfair labor practice charges and grievances before the Illinois Labor Relations Board and Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board. She has also advised employers on medical and insurance benefit plan issues in relation to contract negotiations and employee disputes.

Her employment practice includes the defense of employers against discrimination cases filed state court, the Illinois Department of Human Rights and the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission. She has also defended employers before the City of Chicago Commission on Human Relations, the Illinois Department of Labor, the Illinois Human Rights Commission, and the Illinois Labor Relations Board.

Her higher education practice includes negotiating collective bargaining agreements, as well as handling grievance arbitrations, unfair labor practice charges, and representation petitions before the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board and National Labor Relations Board on behalf of colleges and universities.

Prior to private practice, Melissa worked with the corporation counsel of the City of Chicago in the Labor Division and defended the City in grievance arbitrations regarding contract disputes, discipline, and medical and benefits plans.

Melissa is a member of the American Bar Association (Labor and Employment Section), the Illinois State Bar Association (Labor and Employment Section), and the Illinois Public Employer Labor Relations Association.

Amanda Sonneborn Related Seminars and Products

Partner

King & Spaulding

Amanda is a partner in King & Spalding’s Global Human Capital and Compliance practice. She advises and represents clients across a number of industries in strategic employment related issues in the United States, including employment, employee benefits, labor relations, and diversity issues. Amanda has handled a wide-variety of bet the company litigation matters, labor organizing campaigns and collective bargaining, high level executive investigations, and projects relating to workforce reorganizations and diversity strategy. She has advised employers on complex issues
relating to harassment and discrimination claims, pay equity strategy, and worker misclassification. Amanda has a particular focus on technology companies and the issues that they face with their workforces.

Amanda’s employment related counseling and litigation experience includes serving as lead defense trial counsel in "bet the company" employee litigation matters, as well as addressing executive level, harassment and discrimination allegations, independent contractor risks, and union organizing campaigns. Amanda provides strategic guidance to clients regarding key employee issues, such as workforce reorganizations and diversity program development, including management of potential
brand impact of such issues. She has also served as outside counsel and independent counsel to boards of directors and executive team members in connection with internal investigations and highly sensitive government investigations.

Amanda also has considerable experience in the area of employee benefits risk management. Amanda has advised high level executives regarding their fiduciary obligations for effective management of their employee benefit plans. Her ERISA and employee benefits experience includes defense of and advice regarding claims for benefits, breach of fiduciary duty claims, cash balance plan claims, breach of contract claims, and ERISA Section 510 employment discrimination claims. Amanda has handled class actions, as well as hundreds of single-plaintiff cases, brought in federal court under ERISA. Amanda has also counseled clients regarding Department of Labor
investigations and issues relating to their benefit plans’ investment strategy. She often speaks on ERISA risk management issues and serves as a chapter editor for the American Bar Association's book on employee benefits.

Within the arena of labor relations law, Amanda has served as national counsel to several corporations facing targeted corporate campaigns. She has experience advising clients during all aspects of union organizing campaigns, including public relations, government relations, and
investor relations issues that arise during the course of these campaigns. In addition, she provides clients with day-to-day labor relations advice on a wide spectrum of topics, including independent contractor issues and neutrality agreements. She also frequently negotiates collective bargaining
agreements on behalf of clients. Finally, Amanda has handled several appellate cases seeking review of National Labor Relations Board decisions.

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

Partner

Morgan, Lewis, & Bockius LLP

Alex Tillett-Saks Related Seminars and Products

Associate Attorney

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

Alex M. Tillett-Saks is an associate attorney at Dowd, Bloch, Bennett, Cervone, Auerbach & Yokich LLP. He specializes in representing and advising union clients in a variety of matters, including contract negotiations, arbitration hearings, internal union matters, and proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board and other governmental agencies. He also has extensive experience assisting unions in navigating complex organizing drives via both the NLRB process and card check recognition, from initial corporate research through first contract ratification. Alex also represents union-sponsored employee benefit funds on a variety of matters related to ERISA. Alex teaches courses at the DePaul Labor Education Center. Prior to joining the firm, he was in-house counsel for a large Teamsters local in Chicago. He is a 2015 graduate of Chicago-Kent College of Law with a certificate in Labor and Employment Law.

Emil Totonchi Related Seminars and Products

Associate General Counsel

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

Emil P. Totonchi is Associate General Counsel to the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 150, AFL-CIO, which represents 23,000 working men and women in Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa in many industries, including construction, construction material development, public works, concrete pumping, steel mill service, slag processing, and more.  Prior to joining Local 150’s legal team, Mr. Totonchi served as a Commissioner of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and mediated hundreds of collective bargaining disputes.  Mr. Totonchi previously served as General Counsel to Teamsters Local 705, as well as Associate Counsel and, prior to attending law school, Strategic Researcher for the Service Employees International Union, Local 1.  Mr. Totonchi received a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Washington, DC.  He also received a Juris Doctor and Certificate in Labor and Employment Law from Chicago-Kent College of Law, where he currently teaches as an Adjunct Professor of Law.

Joseph Weishampel Related Seminars and Products

Attorney

Asher, Gittler & D'Alba

JOE WEISHAMPEL is an associate at the firm who practices in the fields of benefits administration and labor law. His work in benefits administration includes representing both multi-employer ERISA plans and public safety pension funds. He has served as a hearing officer during hearings by agency clients, written Decisions & Orders and defended them on administrative appeal, and navigated compliance issues on behalf of clients. Additionally, he has advised clients on subrogation and contribution issues, and has edited and updated plan documents.

In his labor law work, Joe has represented unions, primarily public safety unions. In that capacity, he has represented firefighters and police officers at all stages of disciplinary proceedings, from interrogations to Board proceedings. He has also prosecuted arbitration hearings on both contractual and disciplinary matters. He has advanced other grievances to reach favorable agreements for clients. Joe has litigated in federal and state court to protect employee benefits from employer overreach, including by achieving a successful ruling in the Illinois Supreme Court protecting health insurance benefits for injured firefighters. Joe has also represented both complainants and respondents in EEOC proceedings.

Joe received his J.D. from Loyola University in 2015. He then served as a staff attorney in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Chancery Division. In 2018, he began his work in the fields of employee benefits and labor law. With fellow attorneys Jerry Marzullo and Dave Grady, Joe co-authored the published scholarly article “A Statement of Facts: The Reality of Public Safety Employee Pension Funds in the State of Illinois”. He joined Asher, Gittler & D’Alba in July, 2021.

Chris Williams Related Seminars and Products

Employment and Labor Lead Attorney

Working Families Legal Clinic of The Chicago Workers' Collaborative

In late 2022, Chris became the lead attorney in the labor and employment division of the Chicago Worker Collaborative’s Working Families Legal Clinic. Chris brings over two decades of experience as a legal advocate and, prior to that, another two decades as a union and community organizer.

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 works 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.

In 2018, Chris co-founded a national legal advocacy organization, the National Legal Advocacy Network, which has helped to build and support a national network of worker centers and legal advocacy organizations 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.