Amy M. Gardner, JD, CPC, ELI-MP Partner at Apochromatik Amy brings to Apochromatik a unique track record of working with law students as dean of students at a top 5 law school and a successful career practicing law, first as a Skadden litigation associate and later as an associate and then partner at a mid-size Chicago firm. In addition to countless hours completing stand-alone coaching trainings, she is a graduate of the Institute of Professional Excellence in Coaching. Until March, 2016, Amy was the Dean of Students at the University of Chicago Law School. Through her work as a dean of students, Amy developed an expertise in understanding the unique needs of law students and in tailoring professional education and development opportunities to their needs. Learn More: apochromatik.com
Professor Gonzalez joined the Chicago-Kent College of Law faculty in 1988. He received his bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University and his law degree from Ohio State University College of Law. In addition to teaching, Professor Gonzalez worked in private practice, worked for the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago, and as an administrative law judge for the State of Illinois Human Rights Commission. Professor Gonzalez has taught courses in employment discrimination, pre-trial litigation, negotiations, alternative dispute resolution, and advanced legal writing. He also a frequent speaker and author on topics of employment discrimination and wrongful discharge. In 2013, Professor Gonzalez was inducted into the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, the organization that recognizes the nation’s top labor and employment attorneys. Learn More: https://www.iit.edu/directory/people/richard-gonzalez
An employment lawyer since 1984, Lori has a unique practice representing both employers and employees on a wide range of workplace issues, including discrimination and sexual harassment, wage-hour issues, worker classification, reductions-in-force, hiring and firing, non-competes, and severance and employment agreements. She conducts management training and compliance audits, regularly presents and writes on employment topics, and handles claims before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Department of Labor, and other administrative agencies. https://lorigoldsteinlaw.com/ Awards include Super Lawyers Illinois 2016-2021, Super Lawyers Illinois 100 Top Attorneys 2017,2019 and 2021, and 50 Top Female Attorneys 2017, 2019-2021. Rated “Superb” (highest rating) by AVVO.
Susan Gotham has more than 20 years of experience in human resources and recruiting. She is also the President of HR Services at Gotham Professional Services. Susan graduated from the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business program. She has also served as the President of the Chicago Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners. www.gothamprofessional.com
Jason Han returns to talk about his career changes throughout the years. The founder of the Jason Han Law. Jason worked for the Chicago Sun-Times as a photo journalist before becoming a lawyer. He received his law degree from the University of Illinois College of Law in Champaign-Urbana, and graduated cum laude. Before becoming an employment attorney, Jason worked as a prosecutor in the State’s Attorney’s Office. Jason now has his own practice and represents clients in discrimination and whistleblower matters. He also represents state and federal employees. Works on ERISA matters and labor and CBA matters. In addition to his employment practice, Jason works on police misconduct cases. http://www.jasonhanlaw.com
Megan O’Malley, a principal and founding member of O’Malley & Madden, P.C., concentrates her practice in the areas of civil rights and employment law. Ms. O’Malley is a former President of the National Employment Lawyers Association, Illinois Chapter and former Chair of the Chicago Bar Association’s Labor & Employment Committee. She has been selected as a Leading Lawyer in the area of Civil Rights and Employment Law and as an Illinois Super Lawyer in the area of employment law. Ms. O’Malley has frequently been asked to speak at national seminars on employment law and whistleblower issues and has been an instructor at the American Bar Association Section of Labor & Employment Law’s Trial Institute. Ms. O’Malley is licensed to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the Illinois Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and she is a member of the Federal Trial Bar. Learn More: https://www.ompc-law.com/
For this special episode, Max and Amit discuss Governor Pritzker signing the new law to amend the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act to increase the monthly interest penalty. They also discussed President Biden’s new Executive Order regarding non-compete agreements, what the Order means, and the potential implications. And they discussed the new amendments to the Equal Pay Act regarding an equal pay certificate for businesses with more than 100 employees.
Jim has recovered tens of millions of dollars in damages in individual and class actions arising under federal wage and hour laws including the Fair Labor Standards Act and state wage laws, other complex litigation, and catastrophic personal injury actions involving wrongful death, motor vehicle crashes, products liability, premises liability and construction negligence. In addition, Jim has helped secure groundbreaking and precedent-setting court decisions in the areas of wage and hour law, consumer fraud and employee privacy. Jim has been appointed lead or co-lead counsel on dozens of class actions throughout the United States. He has successfully tried over a dozen major jury trials and argued over 14 appeals as lead appellate counsel before federal and state appellate courts. Jim is also a member of the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States. Learn more: https://www.stephanzouras.com
Attorney Mark DeBofsky is a member of DeBofsky Sherman Casciari Reynolds P.C. as well as an adjunct professor of law at University of Illinois-Chicago John Marshall Law School. He is a prolific author who has written many journal articles and has been a regular columnist for the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin since 2004. Mark DeBofsky is also an annual contributor to the ERISA Survey of Federal Circuits published by the American Bar Association and served for many years as a senior editor of Employee Benefits Law published by Bloomberg. Mark DeBofsky is also a frequent speaker and has lectured at conferences sponsored by many organizations, including the American Bar Association, the American Association for Justice, the Illinois State Bar Association, Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education, Chicago Bar Association and LexisNexis/Mealey’s. Many of his cases have resulted in precedent setting decisions issued by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Circuits. In 2008, he was nominated as a finalist for LexisNexis’ Insurance Law Center Policyholder Attorney of the Year award. Attorney DeBofsky is proud to have been recognized by his peers in the legal profession with the coveted AV® PreeminentTM Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell®. He was named a Super Lawyer in Employee Benefits/ERISA in every year since 2009, and since 2011, he has been listed among the Top 100 Lawyers in the State of Illinois and among the Top 10 in Illinois in 2017. Recently, the National Trial Lawyers has named him one of the Top 100 Trial Lawyers in the State of Illinois. He has also been ranked by the Leading Lawyers Network.
