Mr. Adelman has concentrated in labor and employment law for more than 35 years. He represents clients ranging from small businesses with just a few employees to multibillion-dollar companies with thousands of employees.
Mr. Adelman handles the full spectrum of labor and employment relations matters, ranging from the traditional areas, such as union negotiations and arbitrations, to the newer laws, such as the ADA, OSHA and WARN. Much of his time is devoted to advising clients on how to minimize the potential for litigation or government investigation in employment-related matters.
Mr. Adelman is a frequent writer and speaker on employment law topics. He recently wrote an article in The Builder , the magazine of The Builders Association (a trade association of general contractors in the Chicago area). The article was entitled “Short Form Can Be Long Term” and focused on construction labor law. He is also the former chairman of the Chicago Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law Committee.
Education
- J.D., DePaul University College of Law, 1970
Editor-In-Chief, DePaul Law Review - B.S., University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1967
Bar Admissions
Admitted To Practice
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, 2002
Representative Experience
Mr. Adelman has helped clients achieve their goals in a wide range of cases. For example, in just the past few years:
- For a NYSE company, he defended against allegations that a high-level corporate officer had sexually harassed his secretary. The secretary alleged that her boss had made a number of unwelcome sexual comments, including asking her to teach sexual techniques to his wife, asking her to sit on his lap, and commenting about her undergarments. She further claimed that, as a result of the sexual comments, she needed to take time off from work. Upon her return from a medical leave of absence, her employment was terminated for making disparaging comments about her boss while she was on leave. Mr. Adelman obtained summary judgment on behalf of the corporation, which avoided a public airing of these embarrassing allegations.
- For one of Chicago’s 50 largest companies, Mr. Adelman handled a trial before the Illinois Human Rights Commission involving an African-American employee who claimed that she had been discriminatorily denied a promotion and that both she and all African-American employees in her department were regularly discriminated against on the basis of race. The three other African-American employees in the department all testified on her behalf. Following five days of hearing, the IHRC Administrative Law Judge ruled in favor of the company on all issues.
- For a family-owned manufacturing company, Mr. Adelman handled a jury trial in federal court in St. Louis in which the plaintiff alleged age discrimination, disability discrimination, and a violation of ERISA. The plaintiff was a 56-year-old salesman who had cancer. He claimed that his termination was due to his age and/or disability, and that the company wanted to get rid of him because of his high medical bills. The plaintiff's demand before trial was for several hundred thousand dollars; our client offered the projected cost of the trial. The plaintiff was the first witness. After several hours of his cross-examination of the plaintiff, the case was settled for the projected cost of completing the trial.
- For a NYSE manufacturing company, he negotiated wage decreases averaging $2.00 per hour at one of its plants represented by the IUE and $1.00 per hour at one of its plants represented by the IBEW.
- For one of the largest hotels in Chicago, Mr. Adelman won an arbitration decision entitling the hotel to retain all increases in banquet service charges. If the Union had been successful in its challenge to the hotel’s practice, the hotel was potentially liable for several million dollars in backpay. As a result of this arbitration victory, the Union was forced to drop grievances against at least three other prestigious hotels.
- For a prominent Michigan Avenue hotel, Mr. Adelman won an arbitration decision on the right to subcontract work to temporary help companies. The subcontracting rules established by this arbitration victory were subsequently incorporated into an industry-wide collective bargaining agreement.
- For an association of trucking contractors operating in Central Illinois, Mr. Adelman handled the arbitration of two grievances protesting the fact that association members were hiring trucks and drivers not covered by the collective bargaining agreement. The Teamsters Union claimed that the hiring of outside trucks constituted a violation of the contractual subcontracting clause and/or the employees' seniority rights. He was able to convince the arbitrator to deny both grievances and allow the companies to continue doing business in the manner which they deemed appropriate.
- Two highway construction contractors who received OSHA citations following the death of an employee were referred to Locke Lord by a well-known construction-safety organization. In one case, the employee fell off the back of a truck while he was putting down safety cones. The other case involved an employee hit by a speeding car while she was clearing construction debris from the road. In both cases, Mr. Adelman convinced the government attorney representing OSHA to vacate all items of the citation resulting from the fatal accidents.
Publications & Presentations
Professional History
- Partner, Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell LLP
Professional Affiliations & Achievements
- Member, Chicago Bar Association
- Member, Illinois State Bar Association
- Member, American Bar Association
- Member, Decalogue Society of Lawyers
- Elected, Fellow of College of Labor and Employment Lawyers
- Selected, one of the Leading Labor and Employment Law Attorneys in Illinois, Leading Attorney Network, Inc.
- Listed, Who’s Who in American Law
- Listed, Who’s Who in America
Community Leadership
- Board Member, American Jewish Committee
- Member, Decalogue Society of Lawyers
- Board Member, Victory Gardens Theater
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