2026 Annual Employment Law Seminar
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, and remote attendees are invited.
The seminar takes place on Monday, April 27, 2026, at Chicago-Kent College of Law, 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. New members joining the Chicago Chapter can get discounted dues using the code “CCIL20”.
Policy Developments Impacting Employers
The seminar’s first panel will address tensions employers face, given recently announced federal policy interpretations and litigation priorities that impact employer practices developed to comply with previous obligations (many of which employers still face under several states’ laws).
This session is designed to help employers navigate compliance obligations and avoid enforcement actions, including issues such as affinity groups, efforts to promote “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” liability under the disparate impact theory, and more.
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 the 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. He has authored multiple books and has prior experience clerking in federal courts and practicing in employment, commercial litigation, and appellate matters before transitioning to academia.
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. She 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.
Key Seventh Circuit Case Law Updates
The second hour will discuss key legal developments in Seventh Circuit case law from 2025 across a range of labor and employment topics. EEOC Assistant Regional Attorney Deborah Hamilton will moderate a discussion with Werman Salas P.C. Partner John Frawley and Winston & Strawn Associate Katherine Bailey covering key cases.
These consist of Eli Lilly and Company, et al., v. Richards (7th Cir. August 5, 2025), which clarified standards for certifying FLSA and ADEA collective actions in this Circuit (and may be reviewed by the Supreme Court); Bivens v. Zep, Inc., (6th Cir. August 8, 2025), a Sixth Circuit case that asserts reliance on Seventh Circuit law to create a new standard for sexual harassment liability where the harasser is a third-party like a customer or client; and Pable v. Chicago Transit Authority, (7th Cir. July 28, 2025), a wrongful termination and retaliation case involving critical discovery failures including deleted Signal messages. Following updates to case law, the panelists will offer practical tips for attendees.
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.
Moderator
Deborah Hamilton (Moderator) — Deborah Hamilton is the Assistant Regional Attorney in the EEOC’s Chicago District Office. 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).
Less Familiar Forums
The third hour introduces practitioners to forums that may feel unfamiliar, to make them more approachable. The panel will provide practical guidance on each forum’s rules, standing orders, governing authorities, and other reference materials, and point attendees to key resources.
The discussion features Illinois Human Rights Commission Chief ALJ Brian Weinthal, U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board Central Region Chief ALJ Diane Smason, and NLRB Region 13 Regional Director Angie Cowan Hamada as panelists. IUOE Local 399 General Counsel Peter McNamara will moderate the conversation.
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 ADR experience. 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. She 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.
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.
Written & Oral Advocacy Tips from the Bench
The final hour consists of the seminar’s always-popular judges' panel. This session will feature judges from each court level in the Dirksen Building sharing written and oral advocacy tips for employment cases. Topics will include persuasive writing for settlement letters, motions, and briefs, as well as courtroom presentations, in the increasingly technology-reliant era of post-pandemic practice.
Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals Judge John Lee, District Court Judge Georgia N. Alexakis, and Chief Magistrate Judge M. David Weisman will share insights on advocacy techniques they find more (and less) effective given their different vantage points. Kaplan Law Firm, PLLC Attorney J. Bryan Wood will moderate the discussion.
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). Before 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.
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.
The final panel featuring judges is complimentary. Your registration covers the cost of marketing and administrative costs.
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