IELRA Update

Nicholas Christen Related Seminars and Products

General Counsel & Director of Field and Organizing

Illinois Federation of Teachers

Nicholas Christen is the General Counsel and Director of Field and Organizing at the Illinois Federation of Teachers. He advises leaders and staff on issues affecting the 100,000+ members of the union, including collective bargaining, organizing, discipline, discrimination, organizing, healthcare, and retirement. Nicholas has successfully advocated before private and public sector labor boards, resolved difficult legislative and administrative roadblocks impacting workers’ rights, led negotiations for units large and small in high-stakes negotiations, and advocated for union members from the shop floor to the Court of Appeals. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Illinois School of Labor and Employment Relations. He received his B.A. in Political Science from Miami University and his J.D. from Salmon P. Chase College of Law.

Bill Gleason Related Seminars and Products

Partner

Petrarca, Gleason, Boyle & Izzo

William F. Gleason is a founding member and partner with the law firm of Petrarca, Gleason, Boyle & Izzo, LLC. He earned his Juris Doctorate from IIT-Chicago Kent Collee of Law and was an inaugural member of the Honors Law Program.  During law school he worked in the school’s in-house law clinic.

Mr. Gleason concentrates his practice in the general representation of school and municipal clients. In representing these entities, he routinely counsels clients on employee rights and benefits, student rights/discipline, Open Meetings Act and FOIA compliance. He also advises clients through the collective bargaining process and has negotiated with various groups of employees for both schools and municipal clients.

In addition to these practice areas, he also regularly represents clients in various litigation matters and through all phases of litigation including trial and appeal. He has also represented numerous clients before the Illinois Appellate Court, the Illinois Supreme Court, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. His experience includes cases involving sexual assault, premises liability, student discipline, student residency, improper non-renewals under the School Code, Title VI, Title VII, Title IX, ADEA, ADA, equal protection, due process, willful and wanton supervision, First Amendment claims, conspiracy claims, retaliation claims, excessive force, unlawful search and seizure, the Surface Transportation Assistance Act, construction disputes, breach of contract claims and tenured teacher dismissal cases.

Representative Decisions

• Mitchell v. SPEED, 386 Ill.App.3d 106 (1st Dist. 2008)
• Bryant v. Bd. of Ed. of Bremen CHSD 228, 347 Fed.Appx. 250 (7th Cir. 2009)
• Warning v. SPEED, 242 Ill.2d 92 (2011)
• Wynn v. Bd. of Ed. of Elementary S.D. 159, 815 F.Supp.2d 1007 (N.D. Ill. 2011)
• People ex rel. Madigan v. Bertrand, 2012 IL App (1st) 111419
• Bd. of Ed. of Du Page H.S. Dist. 88 v. Pollastrini, 2013 IL App (2d) 120460
• Henyard v. Village of Dolton, 2016 IL App (1st) 153374

Ellen Maureen Strizak Related Seminars and Products

General Counsel

Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board

Ellen Maureen Strizak is the General Counsel of the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board. She began working for the Illinois Educational Labor Relations as a Board Writer in 2002. Ms. Strizak was Staff Counsel for the Illinois Labor Relations Board from 2006 until 2010. She returned to the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board in 2010 as Associate General Counsel and became General Counsel in 2019. Ms. Strizak received her B.A. in Psychology from the University of Iowa and her J.D. from the John Marshall Law School. Prior to law school, Ms. Strizak organized tenants as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer in Austin, Texas.