Anne Larson is a Shareholder in the Chicago office of Ogletree Deakins. Anne makes it her business to fully understand the client’s operations and personnel, so she can provide exceptional client service tailored to client needs and goals.
Anne concentrates her practice on management-side labor and employment matters and tries discrimination, breach of contract and non-competition/trade secrets disputes throughout the country. She handles unfair labor practice proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board and discrimination charges before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and multiple state commissions.
Anne directs targeted FLSA compliance audits of exempt v. non-exempt employee classifications. She focuses on litigation prevention when advising businesses on their hiring and firing practices, reductions-in-force, disability accommodations and social media issues. Anne creatively negotiates executive compensation and severance agreements and drafts employee handbooks, independent contractor and non-competition agreements. She uses her flair for the theatrical to engage employees with interactive anti-harassment training.
Anne is a member and former Co-Chair of the Chicago Bar Association’s Judicial Evaluation Committee – Investigative Division. She has taught the ADA section of the Mental Health and the Law seminar at Northwestern University Law School and writes on recent developments in labor and employment law. Anne was the featured speaker on “Escalating Retaliation Claims in the Workplace” during the National Employment Law Institute’s (NELI) 35th Annual Employment Discrimination Law Update in Chicago in July 2011. Recently, she authored “Think Before You Tweet: When Workplace Gripes Play Out in Social Media, Who Pays?” (Today’s Chicago Woman (TCW), July 2011), “Sexual Harassment in the Workplace” (TCW, May 2011) and “What the FMLA Regulations Don’t Tell Employers: Your Attendance or Sick Time Policies May Buy You a Lawsuit (Corporate Counsel, Nov. 2010).
Anne was named one of the “40 Illinois Attorneys Under Forty to Watch” in 2001 by the Law Bulletin Publishing Company, an honor bestowed on only 40 Illinois attorneys each year. Her peers named her an Illinois Super Lawyer in 2005, 2007 and 2012, an honor given to the top 5% of attorneys in the state. Leading Lawyers Network has recognized Anne as a top Illinois lawyer in the area of management-side employment law from 2007 through 2011.
Personally, Anne has a passion for the arts and has been civically active through service on not-for-profit boards and community organizations for more than 15 years. She has served as President of the Board for both Shattered Globe Theatre and Hedwig Dances. She has also served as Co-Chair of the Chicago Community Trust’s Young Leaders Fund (YLF), an organization that seeks out and makes grants to local not-for-profits dedicated to the arts, children and economic redevelopment. This past year, Anne taught constitutional law to students in Chicago Area Schools as part of the CFRC’s “Lawyers in the Classroom” program.
In her spare time, Anne may be found cycling the lakefront with her family, planting thousands of tulip bulbs in her postage stamp-size front yard or doing an exercise “boot camp” near the statute of Benjamin Franklin in Lincoln Park. She hopes to become fit enough to do the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI).
Anne served as Law Clerk to the Honorable George W. Lindberg, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and participated in several high-profile criminal prosecutions while clerking.
Experience
- Achieved dismissal of nationwide sexual harassment class action against Fortune 500 company; subsequently won summary judgment for the employer on plaintiff’s individual Title VII and state law claims asserting that plaintiff was sexually harassed and forced to submit to nonconsensual sex with her manager. The individual plaintiff made a $1.2 million settlement demand and used the media to publicize her case.
- Won a jury verdict of “not guilty” on claims of ADA, NYSHRL and FMLA discrimination and retaliation for a Fortune 500 45,000-employee company after a two week jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Post trial, the District Judge reported the plaintiff to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for possible prosecution based on trial testimony that the plaintiff offered a defense witness money in exchange for false testimony.
- Obtained a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) for a Fortune 500 office products company against former sales representatives and their subsequent employer, which resulted in the resignation of the defendant company’s No. 2 and 3 officers and the firing of these sales representatives. Court subsequently directed opposing party and counsel to pay approximately $25,000 in FRCP 37 sanctions.
- Executed bet-the-company workout plan that avoided a $7.5 million ERISA and MEPPA liability for unpaid pension/welfare fund contributions and withdrawal costs against an Ohio trucking company. Central States Pension Fund settled for $250,000 when its usual practice is to obtain summary judgment against the defendant company and liquidate it.
- Obtained a TRO enjoining a Fortune 500 vice president from working for a competitor.
- Caused a high five figure drop in plaintiff’s demand within one hour after deposing the plaintiff’s economic expert.
- Created new law in the Southern District of Ohio regarding use of plaintiff’s demand letters to meet matter in controversy amount for diversity of citizenship to support removal from state to federal court.
Illinois
Arizona
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois (Trial Bar)
U.S. District Court, Eastern and Western Districts of Wisconsin
U.S. District Court, Central District of California
U.S. District Court, District of Arizona
U.S. District Court, District of Colorado
U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh and Ninth Circuits
Education and Honors
- 40 Illinois Attorneys Under 40 to Watch (2001)
- Illinois Super Lawyer (2005, 2007, 2012)
- Super Lawyers Corporate Counsel Edition, for Employment Litigation: Defense (2008)
- Leading Lawyers Network, top Illinois lawyer in the area of management-side employment law (2007-2011)
- University of Michigan Law School Student Senate – elected Treasurer
- Bronze Tablet – the highest graduating honors awarded by the University of Illinois
- Phi Beta Kappa
- James Scholar
- Mortar Board
- Student Ambassador
- University of Illinois Homecoming Court
- Beth Domme Wallin Award for high achievement within the Panhellenic system
- Student Organization Resources Fee (SORF) Board – elected member of funding board responsible for allocating money generated from SORF fees to registered student organizations.
Professional Activities
- American Bar Association
- Arizona State Bar Association
- Chicago Bar Association, including CBA Judicial Evaluation Committee – Investigative Division (member and former Co-Chair)
- Illinois State Bar Association
- Society of Human Resources Professionals (SHRP)
- Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)
- Human Resources Management Association of Chicago (HRMAC)
- P.E.O. International
- Monomoy Capital Partners - "Round Table on 2012 Outlook on Deals" - Chicago - January 11, 2012
- Monomoy Capital Partners - "Round Table on the State of Middle Market M&A and Lending" - Chicago - December 14, 2011
- National Employment Law Institute (NELI) 35th Annual Employment Discrimination Law Update - "Escalating Retaliation Claims in the Workplace" - Chicago - July 21, 2011 - July 22, 2011
- International Alliance of Law Firms webinar - "Social Media Pitfalls for Lawyers" - December 2010
- Private Client Seminar - "Common Employment Law Issues and Litigation Prevention" - Chicago - January 2010
- University of Chicago Graduate School of Business CEO Roundtable - "How to Handle Challenging HR Issues Legally and Effectively" - Chicago - October 2008
- Lorman Education Services - "Advanced Workplace Investigations in Illinois: Doing Them Well and Right" - Chicago - March 2006
- Private Client Seminar - "E-Discovery Tips" - Chicago - January 2006
- Private Client Seminar - "Techniques for Avoiding Employment Litigation” and “Investigating Claims of Sexual and Other Types of Harassment" - Philadelphia - 2006
- Private Client Seminar - "Tips for Preventing Sexual Harassment and for Effectively Responding to Complaints" - Chicago - 2006
- Private Client Seminar - "Anti-Harassment Training" - Florida, Illinois, Indiana and Pennsylvania - 2004/2011
- Lorman Education Services - "Illinois Employment Law From A to Z" - Chicago - 2003/2005
In The News
- October 3, 2011 - Crain's Chicago Business - "Navigating Around Social Media's Legal Land Mines"
- May 2011 - Chicago Lawyer - "Bringing Outside Creativity to the Law"
- March 31, 2011 - Workforce - "Attendance Policies Come Into Question After FMLA Ruling"
- January 21, 2011 - HR Executive Online - "Your Attendance Policies Could Buy You a Lawsuit"
- January 12, 2011 - Employee Benefit News - "Court Ruling Adds New Wrinkle in FMLA Enforcement"
- 2010 - WorkLawsExposed.com - "Social Media: Employees Busted Cappin on Their Employer"
- November 11, 2009 - Around the Water Cooler, Chicago Lawyer's Blog - "Using Social Media Carefully"
- November 2008 - pizzatoday.com - "Back Office Training: Touchy Subject"
- May 14, 2012 - SHRM.org - "Fired Indian Teacher Loses Bias Claim"
- January 2012 - Today's Chicago Woman - "Getting Even: Retaliation in the Workplace"
- July 2011 - Today's Chicago Woman - "Think Before You Tweet: When Workplace Gripes Play Out in Social Media, Who Pays?"
- June 21, 2011 - Martindale.com - "What Third-Party Retaliation Means For Your Business"
- May 2011 - Today's Chicago Woman - "Sexual Harassment in the Workplace"
- March 30, 2011 - Martindale.com - "Three Key Things Employers and Employees Should Know about Social Media"
- November 17, 2010 - Martindale.com - "Beware the Allure of Smartphone Technology: Recording Others Without Consent May Get You in Serious Trouble"
- November 12, 2010 - Texas Lawyer - "What the FMLA Regulations Don’t Tell Employers: Your Attendance or Sick Time Policies May Buy You a Lawsuit"
- November 5, 2010 - Corporate Counsel - "What the FMLA Regulations Don’t Tell Employers: Your Attendance or Sick Time Policies May Buy You a Lawsuit "
