Law Office of Lori D. Ecker

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(312) 855-1880
Practice Dedicated Exclusively to Employment Law
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Lori D. Ecker

Born: Plymouth, Indiana

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

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

Professional Associations: Elected as a Fellow in 2004, Ms. Ecker currently serves on the Board of Governors of The College of Labor and Employment Law. She is an Employee Council Member of the ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law. She is a member of the Chicago Bar Association (Past Co-Chair, Labor and Employment Committee); the Illinois Bar Association, National Employment Lawyers Association; National Employment Lawyers Association-Illinois (Past President and Founding Executive Board Member); and the American Arbitration Association Roster of Neutrals, Employment Law. Ms. Ecker is also a member of WPATH, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, for which she serves as Chair of the Legal Issues Committee and a member of the Ethics Committee.

Awards and Honors: Ms. Ecker is a Fellow of 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 and has been named the Best Lawyers® Employment Law – Individuals “Lawyer of the Year” in Chicago in both 2015 and 2021. Ms. Ecker is also an Illinois Super Lawyer, with the distinction of beingnamed as one of the Top 50 Women Attorneys in Illinois.

Professional Activities: 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, Crain’s Chicago, ABC 7 Chicago, 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, gender identity discrimination, and retaliation. She has taught Employment Litigation as an adjunct professor at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law.

Recent Speaking Engagements: Guest Lecturer, Advanced Writing Class, DePaul University College of Law, Executive Compensation Agreements, February 13, 2020; EEOC Chicago Seminar, Drugs in the Workplace: What’s Okay and What’s Not, August 20, 2019; Chicago Bar Association, Hot Topics in Labor & Employment Law, November 15, 2018; ABA Webinar, Harassment & Bullying Investigations: What to Know When Conducting Effective Investigations, September 25, 2018; DePaul University College of Law, Just at Work: Gender and Sexuality in the Workplace, March 2, 2018; IICLE Employment Law Institute, Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity Discrimination, February 22, 2018; ABA Webninar, Employment Agreements 101: The Tips and Tricks Every Lawyer Should Know, July 12, 2017;Pregnancy Claims under Federal and Illinois Law, IICLE Business and Employment Law Conference, April 27, 2015, Chicago, IL; Workplace Issues Arising from the Legalization of Marijuana, Chicago Bar Association Labor and Employment Law Committee Meeting. January 14, 2015, Chicago, IL; Advanced Issues in Reductions-in-Force, ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law 8th Annual CLE Conference, November 7, 2014, Los Angeles, CA; Can Employees be Disciplined for Out-of-Work Behaviors? ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law 7th Annual CLE Conference, November 9, 2013, New Orleans, LA; How to Prove Your Case for Defamation, IICLE Labor & Employment Law Section, November 30, 2012, Chicago, IL; EPLI for Dummies, ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law 6th Annual CLE Conference, November 2, 2012, Atlanta, GA; Getting to Win-Win: Making Mediation Successful, ABA Annual Meeting, August 2, 2012, Chicago, IL; So You Think You’ve Got a Case? Your Employer Doesn’t Think So! Selecting Causes of Action and Identifying Available Defenses, ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law 5th Annual CLE Conference, November 4, 2011, Seattle, WA; Ricci, Lewis v. City of Chicago, Testing and Affirmative Action: How Are They Related, Moderator, ABA Annual Meeting, August 7, 2010, San Francisco, CA; Social Media – Using it for Litigation, IICLE 14th Annual Labor and Employment Law Update, May 21, 2010, Chicago, IL.