Overview
Steve is passionate about defending business owners who are committed to proactively implementing policies and procedures that minimize legal exposure and maximize potential for success. Through creative advocacy and thorough counseling, Steve has helped clients obtain favorable results to some of the most potentially devastating issues.
With more than 15 years of experience, Steve concentrates his practice exclusively in labor and employment law. His representations include claims involving discrimination and harassment; wage and hour; union grievances and unfair labor practice charges; and handbook and policy review. In his trial counsel and defense, Steve protects the interest of clients in the manufacturing, construction and trucking industries, as well as local government agencies. Steve also defends clients in putative class and collective action wage and hour lawsuits, obtaining favorable resolutions of such suits through dispositive motions and settlement.
In college, Steve was captivated by psychology courses that exposed him to federal employment discrimination statutes and resulting judicial opinions. He credits them for his desire to work with the law to persuade arbiters and adversaries on behalf of clients whose businesses he believes in.
Experience
Membership & Involvement
- Kane County Bar Association: Labor & Employment Law Committee Co-Chair (2017-present)
- Member: Chicago Bar Association; Human Resource Association of Greater Oak Brook (SHRM); Chamber 630, Downers Grove-Woodridge Area Chamber of Commerce
- Unemployment Insurance Committee, Illinois Chamber of Commerce Employment Law Council
Resources & Insights
In the Media
Speaking Engagements
Published Works
Blog
Contributing Author, SmithAmundsen's Labor & Employment Law Update, a labor and employment advisory blog.
Contributing Author, Illinois Chamber of Commerce's Chamber Dispatch, an HR advisory blog.
Blog Posts
Firm News
- Happy Public Domain Day!Happy Public Domain Day!
Public Domain Day is one of the lesser known winter holidays celebrated by the elite few – artists of all sorts and copyright attorneys. We either mourn the passing of works into the public domain after decades of keeping them safe and warm or hail the expiration of long-held copyrights in anticipation of new, insightful, adaptive, and creative uses of these works and characters.
- The Challenge of Serving in Black Robes, Not White Coats: The Second District Affirms the Denial of Patients’ Requests for IvermectinThe Challenge of Serving in Black Robes, Not White Coats: The Second District Affirms the Denial of Patients’ Requests for Ivermectin
Read Edna McLain’s recent article, “The Challenge of Serving in Black Robes, Not White Coats: The Second District Affirms the Denial of Patients’ Requests for Ivermectin” in IDC Quarterly!
- Hold the Phones: State-level Telemarketing Laws In EffectHold the Phones: State-level Telemarketing Laws In Effect
Keep up to date with both the federal TCPA requirements and several state-level statutes!
- Illinois Pre-Judgment Interest Statute Declared UnconstitutionalIllinois Pre-Judgment Interest Statute Declared Unconstitutional
On May 27, 2022, Judge Marcia Maras in the Circuit Court of Cook County issued a memorandum, holding Illinois’s recently enacted prejudgment interest statute unconstitutional, and holding that the legislation violated both the right of trial by jury and the prohibition against special legislation.
Services
- Class Action
- Employment Advice & Counsel
- Employment Litigation
- Equal Pay Compliance
- Government Regulation, Audit & Compliance
- Labor, Employment, Benefits & Immigration
- Mandatory Training
- Prevailing Wage
- Public Sector
- Staffing Agency, Independent Contractor & Contingent Workforce
- Traditional Labor & Union Relations
- Unfair Competition Counseling & Litigation
- Vaccine Mandates in the Workplace
- Wage & Hour
- Workplace Investigations
Education
University of Illinois College of Law, J.D., 2006, cum laude
University of Illinois Institute of Labor & Industrial Relations, M.H.R.I.R., 2005
University of Illinois, B.S., 2002
Admissions
- Illinois