Jim’s labor and employment practice is particularly focused on the representation of public and private sector clients in union representation, collective bargaining, grievance and interest arbitrations, workplace counseling and unfair labor practice matters. He has successfully negotiated over 200 collective bargaining agreements on behalf of public, private and federal employers throughout the country.

Jim is an elected Fellow in the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. In 2009, the ABA’s Section of State and Local Government Law awarded Jim the Jefferson Fordham Society’s “Lifetime Achievement Award.”

In 2004, Jim was elected to the Board of Governors of the American Bar Association, where he served as one of the 36 Governors of the 405,000 member attorney Association. In 2006, Jim was appointed by the ABA’s President to Chair the Board of Governor’s Finance Committee. He has held various offices in the ABA Section of State and Local Government Bargaining, including Chair of the Section in 1994. Jim also served a three-year term as a Commissioner on the prestigious ABA Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession.

Jim has practiced labor and employment law, representing employer clients, since 1972. During this time, he has negotiated labor contracts with such unions as HERE/UNITE, the United Auto Workers, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the Seafarers International Union, the International Brotherhood of Carpenters, the Food and Commercial Workers Union, the International Union of Operating Engineers; the Fraternal Order of Police; the Policemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association; the Metropolitan Alliance of Police; the International Association of Fire Fighters; the Service Employees International Union; AFSCME; the National Treasury Employees Union; and a number of other private and public sector state, federal and local labor organizations.

Jim has handled over 50 elections under the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act, tried numerous precedent-setting representation cases under that Act, and has represented employers in over 40 interest arbitration cases under the IPLRA. In addition to his collective bargaining activities, Jim has advised private employers in more than 130 NLRB election situations, he has tried numerous NLRB representation and unfair labor practice cases, and has conducted many grievance arbitration hearings on behalf of management.

Prior to his work in Chicago, Jim served as a Legal Assistant-Attorney Advisor to Sam Zagoria, Member, and later to Frank W. McCulloch, Chairman, National Labor Relations Board, Washington, D.C., from 1968 to 1970. As a Legal Assistant-Attorney Advisor, Jim prepared cases for NLRB consideration, researched and drafted majority and dissenting opinions, and advised the NLRB on various legal issues as appropriate. From 1970 to 1972, Jim served as Assistant Director and Counsel to the Washington, D.C. based Labor-Management Relations Service of the National League of Cities, U.S. Conference of Mayors, and National Association of Counties.

Jim regularly advises private and public employers in a wide variety of labor and employment law issues. He has also advised the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the U.S. Customs Service on negotiations, interest arbitration and general labor relations law matters. He has led the FDIC’s national negotiation team, and he currently advises the State of Alaska on its labor relations and collective bargaining matters.

Jim served for over 30 years as Labor Relations Counsel to both the National and Illinois Public Employer Labor Relations Associations. Additionally, he has served as Chairman of the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce Labor Relations Committee (1978-80) and is a former member of the National Dispute Panel of the American Arbitration Association. Jim has also served as Management Chairman of the ABA Labor and Employment Law Section’s Committee on State and Local Government Bargaining (1976-79) and was Management Chairman of that Section’s Committee on State Labor Law (1975-76).

Jim has authored or co-authored the following books: Maintaining Public Services: The NPELRA Strike Planning Manual (NPELRA 1978, 1984 and 1990); Practical Labor Relations for Public Employers (Colorado Municipal League 1979); Smarter Bargaining: A Guide to Contract Language for Today’s Public Negotiator (IPELRA 1981, 1988); Surviving Police/Fire Collective Bargaining and Interest Arbitration in Illinois (1985); Public Employee Privacy: A Legal and Practical Guide to Issues Affecting the Workplace (ABA 1995); Freedom of Speech in the Public Workplace (ABA 1998); and Sexual Harassment in the Public Workplace (ABA 2001).

Jim has spoken throughout the country on labor and employment relations issues to colleges, universities and such professional associations as the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the International Personnel Management Association, the National Academy of Arbitrators, the FMCS, and the National and Illinois Public Employer Labor Relations Associations, as well as to numerous state PELRAs, the National Employment Law Institute, the Police Chief and Fire Chief Associations, and the California and Illinois Municipal League Attorneys Conferences, among others. He has also addressed attendees at the Chicago-Kent School of Law Public Sector Law Conference on seven separate occasions. He has also authored numerous labor relations law articles for Law Reviews and other professional journals and newsletters.