Get on the path to results today with Illinois' top wrongful termination lawyer and severance expert.
Our Practice
Protection of Employers and Executives
- We seek to protect our clients through innovative strategies for success, no matter what employment issue may arise.
- HR Law Counsel provides employers and executives a full range of labor and employment law services nationwide. In partnering with clients, whether in litigation, training, or employment contract review and/or negotiation, HR Law Counsel offers best in class service. By operating efficiently and avoiding unnecessary firm overhead—but never sacrificing quality—we seek to produce successful results for clients in all employment law situations.
Our Founder
Highly Specialized Assistance
Expertise You Can Count On
Expertise You Can Count On
Highly Specialized Assistance
Expertise You Can Count On
Ethan G. Zelizer is a nationally respected employment and labor law attorney, senior certified human resources professional, and certified labor relations professional based in Chicago, Illinois. Ethan has extensive experience working with both management and employees. He also has extensive experience representing and advising employers
Ethan G. Zelizer is a nationally respected employment and labor law attorney, senior certified human resources professional, and certified labor relations professional based in Chicago, Illinois. Ethan has extensive experience working with both management and employees. He also has extensive experience representing and advising employers in various industries, including financial services, aerospace, manufacturing, and food distribution, in all aspects of labor and employment law. He regularly appears before federal and state courts, federal arbitration panels, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and the Illinois Department of Human Rights, and the Human Rights Commission.
Ethan teaches Labor and Employment law and Negotiations at Loyola University Chicago and coaches the University's Negotiations Team. He regularly speaks on a variety of employment law topics for clients and organizations and has given presentations on employee misclassification issues and harassment training, among other issues. Ethan has held various offices for the Chicago and American Bar Associations and serves as an editor on bar and industry-related publications. Ethan loves what he does and loves doing it better today than yesterday. He's a dad to three beautiful children, husband to an amazing wife & an employment lawyer. He helps employers and employees solve all sorts of legal problems.
Highly Specialized Assistance
Highly Specialized Assistance
Highly Specialized Assistance
Ethan specializes in compliance with non-competition agreements and other restrictive covenants. He regularly appears in federal and state courts across the country to litigate non-competition, non-solicitation, and trade secret misappropriation matters. Ethan has expertise with federal, state and local anti-discrimination laws as well as
Ethan specializes in compliance with non-competition agreements and other restrictive covenants. He regularly appears in federal and state courts across the country to litigate non-competition, non-solicitation, and trade secret misappropriation matters. Ethan has expertise with federal, state and local anti-discrimination laws as well as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Illinois Minimum Wage Law, the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act, the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, the Older Workers Benefits Protection Act, the National Labor Relations Act, and the Family and Medical Leave Act.
He also assists clients with issues relating to:
- Corporate reorganizations
- Reductions-in-force
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Drug and alcohol policies and issues
- Employee handbooks and policies * Union grievances and unfair labor charges
- Social media issues
Credentials You Can Trust
Highly Specialized Assistance
Highly Specialized Assistance
EDUCATION:
- LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO SCHOOL OF LAW, Juris Doctor, cum laude
- LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO, BA, with honors
CERTIFICATIONS, ACTIVITIES AND HONORS:
- Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) Certification
- Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)
- Certified Labor Relations Professional
- American Bar Association Member and For
EDUCATION:
- LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO SCHOOL OF LAW, Juris Doctor, cum laude
- LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO, BA, with honors
CERTIFICATIONS, ACTIVITIES AND HONORS:
- Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) Certification
- Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)
- Certified Labor Relations Professional
- American Bar Association Member and Former Co-Chair of Employment Law Committees Chicago Bar Association
- Member and Former Co-Chair of Employment Law Committees
- Recipient of Chicago Bar Association/Young Lawyers Section Rising Star Award
- Recipient of City of Chicago Public Service Award for CBA Program
- Editor of the CBA Record
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS & SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS:
- Illinois Supreme Court Recognizes Privacy Tort and Holds Employer Liable Under Agency Law, Littler ASAP, Nov 2012
- Treatise on the Family and Medical Leave Act, ABA, 2008-2013 (Contributing Editor)
- Non-competes in the Electronic Workplace: Solicitation in the Age of Social Media, Aug 2012 (Speaker and Author)
- Beyond the Class Ramifications of Dukes, Law 360, Jul 2011 (co-author)
- Treatise on Employee Mobility, Restrictive Covenants, and Trade Secrets, ABA, 2011 (Editor for Seventh Circuit chapter)
- Social Media – Using It For Litigation, IICLE 14th Annual Labor and Employment Law Update (Speaker and Author)
- Non-Statutory Employment Claims: Employer-Employee Privacy Concerns in Social Media, ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law - CLE Conference, Oct 2010
- Controlling Social Media in the Workplace – Ten Rules, HR Advisor, Jan/Feb 2010
- Chicago Bar Association’s Magazine, CBA Record – “Preparing For Unprecedented Absenteeism In The Wake Of H1N1: ‘I'm Not Coming In Today.’” (September 2009)
- Cross Border Practice: Protecting The Class - Reconciling Gulf Oil With The Realities Of The Workplace” for the Practicing Law Institute’s Litigating Employment Discrimination Claims (30th Annual) June 2008 Book
- The Sarbanes-Oxley Act: Accounting for Corporate Corruption? 15 Loyola Consumer Law Review 33 (2002).