JAMES D. WEISS is counsel in the Employment and Labor group in Chicago. Mr. Weiss practices in all areas of employment and labor law, with a particular emphasis on labor-management relations and wage and hour issues. He regularly provides training and strategic and day-to-day advice to clients regarding such matters as collective bargaining, labor issues in domestic and international corporate transactions, responding to union organizational campaigns, drafting and enforceability of restrictive covenants, exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act, entitlements to leave and overtime, reductions in force, individual and group exit incentives and separation packages, and compliance with the full range of other statutory and regulatory requirements facing employers today.
Mr. Weiss is also an experienced litigator, having successfully represented employers before state and federal courts and administrative bodies including the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois, the National Labor Relations Board, the Illinois Circuit Court, the EEOC, the United States and Illinois Departments of Labor, the Illinois Department of Human Rights, and the Illinois Human Rights Commission, as well as in numerous labor arbitrations. He recently obtained summary judgment in federal court on behalf of a nationally known food processor in a multi-plaintiff action for claimed severance benefits, with potential liability in excess of one million dollars.
Mr. Weiss’ clients include major public utilities (with over 10,000 employees), international accounting and consulting firms, banks, international hotel chains, building management associations, and a wide range of manufacturers and machine shops, both large and small, in several different industries.
Prior to joining the firm in 1994, Mr. Weiss served as a law clerk to the Hon. Donald P. Lay, Senior Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. He has published on behalf of the firm several articles regarding the Fair Labor Standards Act and “Nominal Damages, Nominal Victory: Estate of Farrar v. Cain’s Improper Limit on Awards of Attorneys’ Fees under § 1988,” 76 Minnesota Law Review 1251 (1992).