Gregory Abrams

Career

Gregory Abrams has devoted his over two-decade career to representing and counseling management in all facets of labor and employment law.

Greg focuses his practice on defending employers in their most complex and important litigation, tailoring his approach to each individual client’s definition of “success.” He also advises companies of all sizes in responding to and overcoming challenges involving their most important asset: their people.

Greg’s litigation experience includes defending employers and other entities against class and collective actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and state wage-and-hour counterparts, Title VII, Section 1981, and multiple other employment laws. Having managed matters involving thousands of potential class members throughout the country, he has successfully defeated class certification, prevailed on the merits, and secured favorable resolutions for clients. He also regularly litigates trade secrets and restrictive covenants matters including achieving (and, on behalf of defendants, defeating efforts to obtain) temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctive relief. In addition, Greg has led the defense of multiple companies against class action lawsuits under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) and is a prolific speaker and writer on the topic.

In his employment counseling practice, Greg provides day-to-day (and often immediate) guidance on all types of issues, including restrictive covenants, wage-and-hour laws, employee termination, drug and alcohol testing, employee privacy, and criminal background checks. He also prepares severance agreements, arbitration agreements, employee handbooks, and other employment policies, and manages internal employment investigations. He also provides due diligence support in mergers and acquisitions and other corporate transactions.

Greg routinely presents at CLEs and similar events on a variety of employment and related topics. His writing on employment and privacy-related issues frequently appears in publications such as Reuters (for which he has served as a quarterly columnist), Employment Law 360, and Chicago Daily Law Bulletin. A recognized thought-leader, he has also been interviewed by multiple media outlets, including Bloomberg Law, Fortune, Chicago Tribune, Crain’s Chicago Business, Society for Human Resource Management, Class Action Reporter, and Business Insurance. Greg also has served as a contributing author and editor of the annual FLSA Midwinter Report published by the FLSA Subcommittee of the ABA Federal Labor Standards Legislation Committee.

Greg is committed to pro bono work, which has included representing multiple plaintiffs alleging federal due process violations in connection with Illinois executive clemency proceedings, an applicant for asylum, a Chicago Public Schools student seeking a specially tailored educational curriculum, and an incarcerated individual alleging civil rights violations.

Practice Areas

• Labor & Employment

• Class Action Litigation

• Privacy & Data Security

• Trade Secret Litigation

Experience

Representative Experience

• Managed more than 30 FLSA collective action and state law wage-and-hour class actions involving alleged “off-the-clock” work, employment misclassification, and other theories in courts throughout the country

• Represented companies in multiple industries, including finance, manufacturing, mortgage, and insurance, in pursuing and defending against claims involving alleged restrictive covenant violations and similar theories

• Defended multiple companies in class actions alleging discrimination, invasion of privacy, and other claims brought under multiple state and federal statutes, including Title VII, Section 1981, and other theories

• Handled more than 20 class actions under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) in Illinois state and federal courts, on behalf of employers and manufacturers

• Obtained complete jury verdict for the defense in multi-plaintiff race discrimination case in the Northern District of Illinois federal court brought by major retail chain customers and former employees

• Supported multiple national employers in developing and revising employment policies for compliance in all states in which they operate

Education