loriecker@ameritech.net

Born: Plymouth, Indiana

Education: Lake Forest College, B.A., 1979, DePaul University,
J.D., 1982

Practice Areas: Labor and Employment Law; Employment Contracts; Employment Arbitration; Employment Rights; Wrongful Termination Litigation; Family and Medical Leave Act; Sexual Harassment; Employment Discrimination; Mediation; Whistle Blower Litigation; Americans with Disabilities Act

Membership: Chicago (Co-Chair, Young Lawyers Section, Labor and Employment Law Committee, 1991-1992 and 1992-1993; Vice-Chair, Labor and Employment Law Committee, 1996-1997; Chair, 1997-1998), Illinois State (Member, Labor and Employment Law Section Council, 2005-) and American (Member, Sections On: Labor and Employment; Co-Chair, Membership Committee of Employment Rights and Responsibilities; Member, Commission on Physical and Disability Law) Bar Associations; National Employment Lawyers Association; National Employment Lawyers Association-Illinois (Past President and Founding Executive Board Member); American Arbitration Association Roster of Neutrals; College of Labor and Employment Law.

Admissions: 1982, Illinois, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, including Trial Bar and U.S. District Court, Central District Illinois; U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit

Reported Cases: Oblix v. Winiecki, No. 02 C 6878, 2003 WL 1964193, 2003 WL 21544030 (N.D. Ill. Apr. 24 and Jul 3, 2003); Lynn v. Acme Metals, Inc., No.94 C 5633, 1995 WL 472747, 1995 WL 370230 (ND. Ill. Aug. 8, 1995 and June 20, 1995) Dillard and Precoat Metal, Ch. No. 1990CF3737, 1994 WL 880297 (III. HRC Dec. 23, 1994) Bristow v. Drake Street Inc., 41 E3d 345 (7th Cir. 1994); Vajda v. Arthur Andersen & Co., 253 III. App.3d 345 (1st Dist. 1993).

Biography:

Lori D. Ecker is an experienced trial attorney practicing since 1982. She is an arbitrator and mediator of employment disputes and represents employees in cases arising under local, state, and federal antidiscrimination laws and in matters involving the Family and Medical Leave Act, noncompete agreements, severance agreements, employment contracts and employment torts.

Ms. Ecker has litigated over 100 cases, but much of her time is spent in alternative dispute resolution of employment cases as an advocate and also as a mediator and arbitrator. Ms. Ecker is a member of the Association of Attorney-Mediators. She received her formal training as a mediator with the DePaul University Mediation Training Certificate Course. She is listed as a court-certified mediator for the Circuit Court of Cook County’s Court-Annexed Major Case Civil Mediation Program, and she is listed on the American Arbitration Association’s National Employment Arbitration Roster.

Ms. Ecker is a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers and the American Bar Foundation. She is listed in Who’s Who in American Law and Martindale-Hubbell’s Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers. She was selected by her peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America, as an Illinois Super Lawyer, a Leading Illinois Attorney, and a member of the Leading Lawyers Network. Ms. Ecker is often interviewed as an authority on employment law by national and regional media, such as Fortune Magazine, CBS Chicago, WMAQ-AM, WBEZ-FM, and the Chicago Tribune. A frequent lecturer, Ms. Ecker has spoken and written on a wide variety of employment law topics, including mediation, arbitration, litigation strategy, employment torts, sexual harassment, age discrimination, leaves of absence, and retaliation.

A graduate of Lake Forest College, Ms. Ecker received her J.D. from DePaul University College of Law. She is admitted to practice in the State of Illinois, the United States Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, the U.S. District Court for the Northern and Central Districts of Illinois and the Northern District of Indiana. She is a member of the U.S. District Court Trial Bar.

Ms. Ecker is the Employee Co-Chair of the ABA Labor and Employment Law Section’s Marketing Committee. She is Employee Administrative Co-Chair of the Employee Rights and Responsibilities Committee of the Labor and Employment Law Section; a member of both the National Employment Lawyers Association and its local affiliate, NELA/Illinois, of which she is a past President and a founding Executive Board Member; a member of the Labor & Employment Law Section Council of the Illinois State Bar Association; and a member of the Chicago Bar Association, for which she served as Chair of the Labor and Employment Law Committee during the 1997-98 bar year.

Ms. Ecker has devoted much of her time to charitable endeavors. Presently, she serves as Chair of the Evanston, Illinois Human Relations Commission.