Practice Overview
Our practice is characterized by diversity, efficiency, and high standards of ethics and performance. Our attorneys are passionately committed to the advancement of labor and assistance to the underdog. It is this commitment that attracts new associates to our firm—often at some financial sacrifice—in preference to law firms that represent wealthy corporations. The wide variety of unions we represent, cases we handle, and forums in which we appear makes our practice highly engaging and exciting.
Our goal is to provide representation to unions and their members in an affordable and practical manner. We carefully analyze problems to determine which ones will require substantial legal resources and which will not. We handle our own cases from the first phone call through the last stage of appeal. We avoid assigning multiple lawyers to a single matter so as to prevent overlapping and duplicative work. Our fee structure is reasonable and realistic, and our many years of experience enable us to hold down the hours needed to complete a task.
Our Clients
We represent international, regional, state, and local unions in a broad range of occupations across the country, from teachers to electrical workers to correctional officers to firefighters. Our clients include:
- American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 31
- Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT)
- Associated Firefighters of Illinois (AFFI)
- American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA)
- American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA)
- Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union—UFCW (RWDSU)
- Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA)
- Doctors Council, Service Employees International Union (SEIU
- Locals of Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers’ International Union (BCTGM)
- Locals of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)
Our Practice Areas
Our attorneys practice in all areas needed for effective representation of workers and their unions:
- Filing and processing of workers’ compensation claims
- Litigation before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Illinois Labor Relations Board (ILRB), and Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board (IELRB)
- Arbitration proceedings under collective bargaining agreements
- Enforcement of collective bargaining agreements in state and federal courts
- Protection of retiree pension and health care benefits
- Proceedings under the federal bankruptcy code
- Litigation under the Landrum-Griffin Act and other matters of internal union governance
- Counseling of unions and litigation under the Occupational Safety and Health Act and related state statutes
- Representation of employees and unions with respect to state and federal fair labor standards statutes
- Counseling of unions and representation of employees under other state and federal employment laws such as the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act