David Weinstein is a member of the firm's labor, employment & benefits practice group, with more than 30 years of experience advising and defending public and private companies. David has extensive trial experience in both state and federal courts, and he has defended employers in individual and class action suits in multiple jurisdictions.

Before joining Faegre Baker Daniels, David was a partner at Wildman Harrold in Chicago, where he focused on employment and labor litigation, employee fraud matters, commercial litigation and securities. He also served as outside general counsel to a public company and several private companies.

David's experience includes representing a national telecommunications provider in NLRB unfair labor practice charges, defending employers against claims of discrimination and worker misclassification, and conducting internal investigations of potential improper activity by employees. He has both prosecuted and defended injunctions based on restrictive covenants in employment contracts, assisted companies with asset purchase agreements and defended and prosecuted cases regarding accusations of fraud.

Representative Experience

• Served as Illinois strike counsel for national telecommunications provider, responsible for access injunctions, prosecuting and defending NLRB unfair labor practice charges, and handling related litigation connected to labor disruptions and nationwide bargaining negotiations
• Represented employers in jury cases before federal and state courts involving various discrimination claims arising from termination of officer in corporate restructuring as well as retaliatory discharge suits against retailer
• Represented clients in class and collective actions in "bet-the-company" litigation involving matters such as sexual harassment, racial discrimination and wage-hour violations
• Represented client in Illinois Appellate Court involving failure-to-promote discriminatory impact claim against manufacturer
• Prosecuted and defended injunctions based on inevitable disclosure, non-solicit, non-compete and related restrictive covenants in employment contracts and asset purchase agreements for employers in such industries as high technology, recruiting, advertising, product distribution and sales
• Represented clients in numerous suits against employers alleging retaliation, discrimination, FMLA, ERISA, COBRA and other statutory violations and employment-related tort claims
• Represented employers allegedly defrauded by employees in industries including advertising, public relations, retail, manufacturing, publishing and law
• Conducted internal investigations in multiple industries for employers suspecting improper activities by employees, including illicit use of company computers for trafficking in contraband, employee threats to co-workers or customers and pirating of confidential information
• Defended publicly held, high-tech chemical manufacturer sued in series of federal court securities fraud class actions alleging misrepresentations concerning customer contracts in connection with an initial public offering
• Defended corporate officers sued in individual and class state court actions alleging shareholder derivative claims, which clarified the differences between individual and derivative claims under Illinois and Delaware law
• Defended a publicly held, high-technology chemical manufacturer in federal court against class action claims of securities fraud alleging misrepresentations concerning revenue reporting

Pro Bono
For more than 25 years, David has volunteered as a consultant to the Community and Economic Development Law Project of the Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law. Through this work, he has advised and trained numerous nonprofit employers serving the low-income community on a wide range of employment and labor matters. David also served as special pro bono counsel to the Illinois Lawyers Trust Fund, assisting in developing the fund's innovative grant program to help Illinois legal aid providers retain their employed staff attorneys.

Honors

• Illinois Super Lawyers — Employment & Labor, 2012
• Leading Lawyers, Illinois — Employment & Labor, 2012

Professional Associations

• Chicago Bar Association
• Illinois State Bar Association
• American Bar Association — Employment and Litigation Sections
• National Institute for Trial Advocacy

Civic Activities

• Barristers Big Band — Accomplished jazz guitarist with the bar-affiliated band of lawyers and judges, as well as other groups
• Congregation Hakafa, Glencoe, Ill. — Taught Jewish Law and Ethics for more than 20 years

Legal Updates
David has written articles on an array of topics important to employers, including employee dishonesty investigations, employee theft insurance, sexual harassment, ADA, retaliation issues, FMLA claims, OSHA standards, employee classification under wage-hour law, employee handbooks and restrictive covenant enforcement.