2026 Annual Employment Law Seminar
The final panel featuring judges is complimentary. Your registration covers the cost of marketing and administrative costs.
The Federal Bar Association Chicago Chapter invites members of the legal community to attend the 2026 Annual Employment Law Seminar, an afternoon of timely updates and practical guidance for in-house counsel and employment practitioners. Co-sponsored by JAMS and Chicago-Kent’s Martin H. Malin Institute for Law and the Workplace, this hybrid program features experienced practitioners, government officials, and judges discussing key policy developments, emerging case law, and advocacy strategies across the labor and employment landscape. This program features 4 hours of CLE credit (pending approval). A cocktail reception will follow. Remote attendees are invited as well.
The seminar takes place on Wednesday, January 28, 2026, at Chicago-Kent College of Law (Ogilvie Auditorium), 565 W. Adams, Chicago, IL, with a hybrid attendance option. Programming runs from 12:45 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., followed by a reception until 6:45 p.m. Attendees will hear directly from leaders and attorneys involved in workplace enforcement and guidance, receive case law updates with practice tips, learn how to navigate less familiar forums, and close the day with advocacy insights from the bench.
Policy Developments Impacting Illinois Employers
A practical look at how evolving federal policy interpretations and enforcement priorities can collide with employer practices developed under earlier guidance—while state-law obligations remain in play. Panelists will discuss compliance strategies, reducing enforcement risk, and issues including affinity groups, DEI efforts, and disparate impact theory.
Moderator
Christina O. Alabi (Moderator) — Associate General Counsel at Diligent and a senior in-house global employment law and compliance counsel in the technology industry. She advises on innovative, business-minded solutions while balancing legal, reputational, and regulatory risk, and brings experience across in-house leadership roles, private practice, and government service, including work with the Illinois Labor Relations Board and the National Labor Relations Board.
Panelists
Amrith Kaur Aakre (Speaker) — Director of the EEOC’s Chicago District and a Senior Executive Service appointee leading multiple offices across six states. She oversees investigators, mediators, administrative judges, and attorneys, works with federal leadership on civil rights policy and litigation strategy, and previously served as National Legal Director of the Sikh Coalition and as a Cook County felony prosecutor for more than 11 years.
Laurie Elkin (Speaker) — Bureau Chief of the Illinois Attorney General’s Civil Rights Bureau (joined July 2025), helping enforce Illinois employment civil rights laws. Previously, she served as a Senior Trial Attorney at the EEOC for two decades litigating individual and complex class cases under Title VII, the Equal Pay Act, the ADA, and the ADEA, and also served as an attorney advisor to an EEOC Vice Chair.
Jason R. Bent (Speaker) — Director of Chicago-Kent’s Malin Institute for the Law and the Workplace (joined faculty in 2025). A longtime legal educator and scholar, he co-authors a treatise on statistical evidence in discrimination cases and has written multiple books, with prior experience clerking in federal courts and practicing in employment, commercial litigation, and appellate matters before transitioning to academia.
Key Seventh Circuit Case Law Updates
A curated review of major Seventh Circuit labor and employment developments from 2025, paired with practice-ready takeaways. Discussion will include case law affecting collective actions, third-party harassment frameworks, and high-stakes discovery pitfalls.
Moderator
Deborah Hamilton (Moderator) — Assistant Regional Attorney in the EEOC’s Chicago District Office, which litigates employment discrimination matters across a multi-state region. She has more than 20 years of experience litigating a wide range of discrimination cases, including matters under newer federal protections such as the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, as well as subpoena enforcement and compliance actions. She previously clerked for Judge Harry T. Edwards (D.C. Circuit) and Justice David Souter (U.S. Supreme Court).
Panelists
John Frawley (Speaker) — Partner at Werman Salas P.C., representing plaintiffs in class and collective actions nationwide, with a focus on employee rights, civil rights, and consumer protection. He began his career with defense-side experience and a federal judicial clerkship, giving him a broad perspective on complex litigation strategy.
Katherine Bailey (Speaker) — Associate at Winston & Strawn LLP, representing employers in labor and employment matters at both the trial and appellate levels, including class and collective actions and single-plaintiff litigation. She clerked for the Hon. Frank P. Geraci, Jr. (then-Chief Judge, W.D.N.Y.) and serves as an adjunct professor teaching appellate advocacy.
Grayson Sang Walker (Speaker) — Of Counsel at Miner, Barnhill & Galland, P.C., focusing on consumer protection and employment matters. He previously served as Senior Attorney Advisor to the EEOC Chair and as a Trial Attorney in the EEOC’s Chicago District Office, and also has criminal law experience as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of Illinois, along with a federal judicial clerkship.
Less Familiar Forums
A “demystifying” tour of forums that can feel unfamiliar even to experienced employment lawyers. Panelists will provide real-world guidance and point attendees to key resources, including rules, standing orders, governing authorities, and reference materials.
Moderator
Peter McNamara (Moderator) — General Counsel for IUOE Local 399, representing a 10,000-member bargaining unit of stationary engineers. His practice spans numerous labor and employment forums, including federal and state courts and multiple administrative agencies, and he is admitted before the Seventh Circuit. He serves as an arbitrator in Cook County’s Mandatory Arbitration program and sits on the Board of the Chicago Chapter of the Federal Bar Association.
Panelists
Hon. Diane Smason (Speaker) — Regional Director/Chief Administrative Judge of the Central Regional Office of the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board. She previously served in several leadership and litigation roles within the EEOC, handling a broad range of matters, including class and systemic cases. She is also active in the ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law and is a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers.
Hon. Brian Weinthal (Speaker) — Chief Administrative Law Judge of the Illinois Human Rights Commission (since February 2022). Before joining the IHRC, he spent nearly two decades in private practice litigating commercial and employment cases nationwide and has significant experience in ADR. He also served six years on active duty in the U.S. Navy JAG Corps, ultimately prosecuting matters for the Office of Military Commissions.
Angie Cowan Hamada (Speaker) — Regional Director of NLRB Region 13. Before her appointment in 2022, she represented unions and employees in labor and employment matters in agencies, courts, and ADR proceedings, and previously served as a Commissioner (and Chair) of the Cook County Human Rights Commission. She is an editor of the treatise The Developing Labor Law.
Justin Mulaire (Speaker) — Assistant Regional Attorney in the EEOC’s Chicago District Office, litigating employment discrimination cases in federal district court on behalf of the government. He has served as an advisor to an EEOC General Counsel and to an EEOC Commissioner, and has held leadership roles within the ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law’s annual conference planning efforts.
Written & Oral Advocacy Tips from the Bench
Judges from different levels of the federal courts will share what they find persuasive (and not persuasive) in employment matters, covering settlement communications, motions, briefs, and courtroom presentations in an increasingly technology-reliant era.
Moderator
J. Bryan Wood (Moderator) — Attorney at Kaplan Law Firm, PLLC, who launched the firm’s Chicago office in 2024 after nearly 25 years practicing employment law in Chicago. He has represented employees for over two decades and has extensive experience in agency proceedings, trial courts, appellate courts, and arbitration. He is Chair of the FBA Chicago Chapter’s Employment Law Committee and a frequent CLE speaker.
Panelists
Judge John Z. Lee (Speaker) — Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (commissioned September 2022), previously serving as a U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois (since 2012). Before joining the bench, he practiced in Chicago law firms and served as a trial attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Environmental and Natural Resources Division.
Judge Georgia N. Alexakis (Speaker) — U.S. District Judge (sworn in August 23, 2024). Prior to joining the bench, she served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and Chief of Appeals for the Criminal Division in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois, and has experience in private practice and multiple federal clerkships.
Chief Magistrate Judge M. David Weisman (Speaker) — Appointed to the bench in 2016. His background includes service as an FBI special agent, work as an Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of Chicago, and more than a decade as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, including supervisory roles and a focus on federal litigation.
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