Steven J. Pearlman is a partner in the Labor & Employment Law Department and Co-Head of the Whistleblowing & Retaliation Group and the Restrictive Covenant and Trade Secret Group.
Steven’s practice covers the full spectrum of employment law, with a focus on claims of discrimination, retaliation and harassment; restrictive covenant violations; theft of trade secrets; wage-and-hour violations; whistleblower retaliation; and breach of contract. He defends class and collective actions and single-plaintiff actions. He has successfully tried cases in multiple jurisdictions, and defended what is reported to be one of the largest Illinois-only class actions in the history of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He also secured what is reported to be only the fifth ex parte seizure order issued under the Defend Trade Secrets Act.
Reporting to boards of directors and their audit committees, Steven conducts sensitive investigations and has testified in federal court. His investigations have involved reports of sexual harassment involving C-suite officers; systemic violations of employment laws and company policies; and fraud, compliance failures and unethical conduct.
Steven is a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. Chambers describes Steven as an “outstanding lawyer” who is “very sharp and very responsive” and a “strong advocate.” Steven was 1 of 12 individuals selected by Compliance Week as a "Top Mind." Earlier in his career, he was 1 of 5 U.S. lawyers selected by Law360 as a "Rising Star Under 40" in the area of employment law and 1 of "40 Illinois Attorneys Under Forty to Watch" selected by Law Bulletin Publishing Company. Steven is a Burton Award Winner (U.S. Library of Congress) for "Distinguished Legal Writing."
Steven has served on Law360’s Employment Editorial Advisory Board and is a Contributor to Forbes.com. He has appeared on Bloomberg News (television and radio) and Yahoo! Finance, and is regularly quoted in leading publications such as The Wall Street Journal.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has engaged Steven to serve as lead counsel on amicus briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court and federal circuit courts of appeal. He was appointed to serve as a Special Assistant Attorney General for the State of Illinois in employment litigation matters. He has presented with the Solicitor of the DOL, the Acting Chair of the EEOC, an EEOC Commissioner, Legal Counsel to the EEOC and heads of the SEC, CFTC and OSHA whistleblower programs.
