Make Your
Rights Matter.

Losing your livelihood is one of the most traumatic things that can happen to a person. The paychecks stop, but the rent, the mortgage, and the truck payment keep coming. The last thing you should have to worry about is whether my fees will cost you your house.

That is why I represent clients on a contingency fee. You pay no attorney's fee unless we recover money for you, and my fee comes out of that recovery. Many workers' rights laws also allow the court to order the employer to pay your attorney's fees when you win.

I can and do represent clients on retainer as well, when hourly work is the better fit for the matter. Either way, your first consultation is free, and the fee agreement, including how case costs are handled, is put in writing before any work begins.

Yes. Trucking is a major part of my practice. I represent a company driver in a class and collective action against a group of related carriers that, we allege, operated out of one shared office. The claims include minimum wage violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act, unpaid wages under the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act, whistleblower retaliation under the Surface Transportation Assistance Act, and fraud, and they reach the individuals behind the companies as joint employers and alter egos.

I am also investigating several chameleon carrier networks on behalf of drivers across the country. If you were switched between carrier names, charged deductions you never agreed to, or never got your escrow back, see the investigation websites above or start the trucker intake below.

Fight back. I represented a worker who reported gender-related violence by a person acting for her employer. The company responded by suing her for defamation and breach of contract.

We defended her against the company's claims while pressing her own: a claim under the Illinois Gender Violence Act and a claim for unpaid wages under the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act. When text messages went missing, we pursued them in discovery.

Yes, and the law may reward you for it. I represent whistleblowers in false claims actions, where a private citizen who exposes fraud can share in what is recovered.

Under the federal False Claims Act, a whistleblower, called a relator, can file a qui tam lawsuit on the government's behalf against anyone who cheats Medicare, Medicaid, the military, or another federal program. The case is filed under seal while the government investigates, and a successful relator generally receives 15 to 30 percent of the recovery. The Illinois False Claims Act works the same way for fraud on the State of Illinois.

Illinois also lets whistleblowers go after fraud on private insurance companies. Under the Illinois Insurance Claims Fraud Prevention Act, a relator can bring a qui tam case over schemes such as kickbacks for steering patients or clients to insurance-paid services, and receives at least 30 percent of the recovery if the State takes over the case and at least 40 percent if it does not.

For tax fraud, including hidden income and offshore accounts, a whistleblower files IRS Form 211 with the IRS Whistleblower Office. In qualifying cases, awards are 15 to 30 percent of the proceeds the IRS collects.

These laws also protect employees from retaliation. Timing and confidentiality matter, so talk to a lawyer before you report.

You may. The Illinois Equal Pay Act requires equal pay for substantially similar work regardless of sex, and it also protects employees who ask about or discuss their pay.

I represent a professional at a large commercial real estate services company in an Illinois Equal Pay Act lawsuit. Pay cases turn on the company's own records, such as job descriptions, pay histories, and performance reviews, so we work to get those records protected and produced early.

Nurses, physicians, and other health care workers are often the first to see when staffing, safety, or care falls short, and the law protects those who speak up. The Illinois Whistleblower Act protects employees who report, including to a supervisor, what they believe in good faith is a violation of law or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety, and who refuse to take part in it. Illinois law also recognizes a claim for retaliatory discharge when an employee is fired for reporting conduct that threatens public health and safety.

When the concern involves billing Medicare or Medicaid for care that was substandard or never provided, the False Claims Act may apply as well. I represent medical professionals who raised patient care concerns and faced retaliation for it.

Write down what you reported, to whom, and when. Do not take patient records or other protected health information; talk to a lawyer first about what you can keep.