As chair of Gould & Ratner’s Human Resources and Employment Practice, David Michael leads a diverse group of trial attorneys focusing in all areas of complex commercial disputes for public and private companies, as well as business-related disputes for closely held and family businesses.
David earned his litigation stripes in the area of employment law. He has represented employers in numerous employment-related lawsuits in both state and federal court, and before various governmental agencies. He has handled and won cases involving all aspects of employment law, including race, national origin, age and disability discrimination, sexual harassment, restrictive covenants, workers’ compensation retaliation, trade secret misappropriation and breach of fiduciary duty.
As the leader of the firm's Human Resources and Employment Law Practice, David draws upon an extensive 26-year background in human resources management and counseling and limits his practice to management-side human resources, employment and labor law.
David helps employers solve their complex employee problems, the issues that often leave companies wondering, what should we do? He works closely with employers by providing proactive advice on a variety of employment-related topics such as:
- accommodating disabled employees
- navigating the provisions of the Family and Medical Leave Act
- effecting plant closings without liability
- avoiding legal pitfalls when hiring employees
- investigating sexual harassment complaints
- accommodating pregnant employees
- developing strategies to ensure exemptions from overtime
- handling employee morale issues
- creating better systems to document disciplinary actions
Additionally, David has negotiated and drafted numerous executive employment agreements, compensation and bonus plans. He also assists employers in protecting trade secrets and other legitimate business interests through non-compete and non-disclosure agreements.
A valuable part of David's practice is his assisting employers with training their workforces on employment-related topics, including mandatory harassment prevention training. He has also conducted training seminars for employers and their employees on topics including overtime, performance management, employment discrimination, computer use policies, hiring and firing, accommodating disabled employees, leadership, workplace violence, supervisory skills and risk management.
David writes and speaks frequently on current topics in human resources and employment law, and he is the co-editor and frequent contributor to Gould & Ratner’s HR Law Blog. He has served in a similar capacity for the American Bar Association's Section of Litigation and authored articles for magazines and newsletters on a wide variety of employment-related topics.
David is an AV rated attorney by M-H and has been recognized as an Illinois Super Lawyer as well as an Illinois Leading Lawyer in the area of Employment Law: Management. David was recently selected to serve on the City of Lake Forest’s Legal Committee and serves on the board of directors of the Lake Forest Club.
