Responding to Incivility in the Workplace

Kelly Coyle Related Seminars and Products

Partner

Clark Baird Smith LLP

Kelly Coyle is a Partner with Clark Baird Smith LLP. Kelly focuses her practice on helping employers successfully navigate through a range of labor and employment law issues. Kelly’s labor experience includes litigating grievance arbitration matters; litigating both representation and unfair labor practice cases before the ILRB and ELRB; and counseling employers on their rights and obligations under the Illinois Labor Acts and their respective collective bargaining agreements. 

In addition to her labor experience, Kelly also focuses on assisting employers with their non-union, employment matters. Kelly regularly counsels and represents employers regarding statutory medical leave issues under the FMLA and ADA, disability concerns under Illinois and Federal law, fitness for duty issues, and PSEBA matters. Kelly also has experience representing employers in employment discrimination claims before the IDHR and the EEOC. Additionally, Kelly has conducted multiple, neutral workplace misconduct investigations on behalf of employers; and has conducted numerous trainings related to anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policies and best practices, and regularly assists public employers on the handling of FOIA requests.

Prior to joining Clark Baird Smith LLP, Kelly gained invaluable experience working for the ILRB as an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). As an ALJ, Kelly was responsible for conducting numerous hearings, addressing a variety of pretrial issues, conducting in-depth labor law research, and drafting more than a dozen decisions. 

In 2018 and 2019, Leading Lawyers recognized Kelly as an “Emerging Lawyer” in the Labor Law (Management) field. Leading Lawyers grants less than 2% of Illinois attorneys the distinction of Emerging Lawyer.

Kimberly Stevens Related Seminars and Products

Executive Director

Illinois Labor Relations Board

Kimberly Stevens is the Executive Director of the Illinois Labor Relations Board. Prior to her current position with the Labor Board, Ms. Stevens was most recently Deputy General Counsel at the Illinois State Board of Education. Ms. Stevens has also worked for the Illinois Labor Relations Board as an Administrative Law Judge, and she previously served as labor relations counsel for the Department of Central Management Services, representing the State of Illinois in contract negotiations, arbitration hearings, and cases before the ILRB. Ms. Stevens began her legal career at the Illinois Attorney General’s office in the civil trials bureau, where she was responsible for government defense litigation in State and federal courts as well as administrative matters before State merit boards and commissions. Ms. Stevens received her Bachelor’s degree summa cum laude in history, political science, and humanities from Valparaiso University and her Juris Doctor degree magna cum laude from the Valparaiso University School of Law.

John J. Weathers Related Seminars and Products

Arbitrator-Mediator-Attorney

Weathers ADR LLC

John Weathers is a highly accomplished practitioner with over two decades of experience in labor and employee relations, as a legal advocate for employer and labor union clients negotiating collective bargaining agreements, administering contracts, and resolving disputes and litigation; and also as a third-party neutral providing mediation, facilitation, and process-design services. John is known for leveraging an advanced legal and ethical proficiency, strategic negotiation skills, a strong commitment to neutrality and impartiality, and a keen eye for productive processes and practices to successfully navigate complex issues and relationships, to empower and guide parties to agreements and resolution, and to instruct and train diverse groups in contract administration, negotiations, interest-based processes, and conflict resolution.

• Noted for repeated success in negotiating to completion over seventy (70) collective bargaining agreements as a legal advocate for a public sector employer with tens of thousands of employees and as legal counsel on behalf of a major public sector labor union representing more than ten thousand bargaining unit employees
• Proven track record of effectively representing employer and labor union clients by arbitrating more than seventy-five (75+) cases and reaching favorable settlement agreements in hundreds of other matters prior to hearing
• Recognized for extensive experience mediating hundreds of collective bargaining agreements, grievances, and workplace disputes across a variety of industries in the private, public, and federal sectors
• Demonstrated for achievements in designing and facilitating processes in high-impact, multi-party public policy and negotiated rulemaking matters for governments, agencies, and a variety of stakeholders