James S. Barber
Partner
James S. Barber is a partner with Clausen Miller P.C. Mr. Barber is chair of CM's Employment Practice Group.
Mr. Barber is a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. He is also the Chair of the Labor and Employment Committee of the DuPage County Bar Association. He is a member of the Legislative Committee of the Society of Human Resource Professionals (SHRP). Mr. Barber is a Director for SHRP. He counsels and represents corporations and management in the areas of employment policy, contracts, labor, wage and hour standards and employment litigation. Mr. Barber represents management before the National Labor Relations Board and other federal and state labor departments and agencies.
For the last four consecutive years, Mr. Barber has been recognized by Crain's Chicago as a Leading Lawyer in Employment Law. This special recognition was based on a state wide survey of the opinions of other lawyers who practice Employment Law. For the fifth consecutive year, Mr. Barber has been recognized as an Illinois Super Lawyer by Law & Politics. He has an "AV" rating with Martindale-Hubbell indicating the highest ranking in legal ability and ethical standards as determined by his peers in the legal community.
Mr. Barber is an accomplished author and lecturer. Most recently, Mr. Barber is the award winning co-author of Anti-discrimination and Harassment Policies and Training, Chapter 7, in IICLE's book, Conducting the Employment Practice Audit, 2004 edition. The book was awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award by the Association of Continuing Legal Education.
Mr. Barber is a 1977 graduate of DePaul University School of Law, where he was an editor on the law review. Mr. Barber also has a Master of Business Administration degree from the DePaul Graduate School of Business, 1974. Mr. Barber received his bachelor's degree from DePaul University in 1967.
Mr. Barber also counsels clients on corporate governance, board of director duties, business decisions and business litigation related to the following businesses and professions:
Accounting Firms, Airlines, Architects, Banks, Brokerage Firms, Colleges, Corporations, Trade and Professional Associations, Not-for-Profit Corporations, Directors, Doctors, Educators, Financial Institutions, Governmental Bodies, Health Care Industry, Hotels, Hospitals, Insurance Companies, Law Firms, Manufacturers, Municipalities, Officers, Partnerships, Police, Retailers, Real Estate Developers, Restaurants, Schools, Service Industries, Sole Proprietorships, Teachers and Universities.
Mr. Barber's litigation practice spans twenty years in both federal and state courts. He also represents clients before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Illinois Department of Human Rights and other state and local agencies. Mr. Barber represents management before the National Labor Relations Board and state labor departments and agencies. Mr. Barber also defends employers before the Department of Labor and in court on wage and hour claims. He also represents clients before many other federal, state and local agencies.
Mr. Barber has extensive experience in injunction actions. In this regard, he also represents clients in disputes related to the enforcement of covenants not to compete, confidentiality agreements and trade secrets.
He also has written other articles and spoken on the topics of:
- Employment Discrimination
- Wage & Hour Class Actions
- Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Investigations
- Retaliation Claims under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act
- Employment Practices
- Corporate Compliance
- Corporate Governance
- Fiduciary Duties: Officers, Board of Directors and Employers
- Sexual Harassment
- Violence in the Workplace
- The Americans with Disabilities Act
- The Family and Medical Leave Act
- The Duty of Loyalty to One's Employer
- Covenants Not to Compete
- Confidentiality Agreements
- Trade Secrets
- Whistleblower Litigation
Mr. Barber also is the author/contributing editor of chapters on covenants not to compete, trade secrets and employee duty of loyalty in three separate volumes published by the Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. (BNA) in conjunction with the American Bar Association.
Education
- J.D. DePaul University College of Law, 1977
- M.B.A. DePaul University, 1974
- B.A. DePaul University, 1967
Bar Admissions
- Illinois
Court Admissions
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, 1977
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Court, 1977
Organization Affiliations
- Chicago Bar Association (CBA) (Member, Committees on Labor and Employment and Corporate Law Department, 1992-)
- American Bar Association (ABA) (Member, Labor and Employment Committee and Business Law Committee, Employment Rights and Responsibilities Committee)
- Illinois State Bar Association
- DuPage County Bar Association
- Union League Club of Chicago (ULC) (Secretary and Member of Board of Directors)
- Human Resource Management Association (HRMAC)
- Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM)
- Society of Human Resource Professionals (SHRP) (Board Member 2009)
View this attorney's Reported Decisions, Verdicts and Judgments.
