The Employment Law Summit: Chicago

Kenyatta Beverly is Labor and Employment Counsel for The Davey Tree Expert Company.  Davey provides a wide range of arboricultural, horticultural, environmental, utility support, and consulting services to customers throughout the U.S. and Canada.  Employing nearly 13,000 employees, Davey is one of the largest employee-owned companies in the country.  In her role, Kenyatta provides Davey and its subsidiaries with strategic legal counsel on all labor and employment related issues.

From her first day at Davey, Kenyatta has been a force for meaningful change, encouraging the implementation of policies that make Davey an even more inclusive workplace for all employees.  Kenyatta was instrumental in the formation of Davey’s Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee, and along with her human resources partners, formally launched Employee Affinity Groups.

Prior to joining Davey, Kenyatta served as the Director of Labor Relations for Acero Charter Schools, Inc.; as Labor Relations Counsel and an Administrative Law Judge for the State of Illinois; and as an associate attorney at boutique and global law firms.

Kenyatta is heavily involved in various civic and professional organizations and is passionate about mentoring our youth.  She currently serves on the following boards:  the Chicago Bar Foundation’s Young Professionals Board; the National Conference of Bar Presidents Executive Council; the Force of Lawyers Against Sexual Harassment Board of Directors; Girls Inc. of Chicago’s Board of Directors; and Civitas Education Partners Board of Directors.  Additionally, Kenyatta is a Past President of the Black Women Lawyers’ Association of Greater Chicago, Inc.

Kenyatta is a recognized leader and philanthropist who has been honored by multiple organizations for her legal expertise, leadership, dedication to mentorship, and consistent community service.  She was named a 2023 40 Under Forty Illinois Attorneys to Watch honoree by Chicago Lawyer Magazine and the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin; selected as a 2023 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Fellow; received the Cook County Bar Association’s 2023 Next Generation Award; honored by Law Bulletin Media with the 2022 Salute! Top Women in Law Award; selected by Diversity MBA Magazine as a 2021 Top 100 Under 50 Executive Leader; and named a 2020 She Shines Honoree by Girls Inc. of Chicago, an organization that inspires girls to be strong, smart, and bold.  Kenyatta has also received multiple distinguished service and leadership awards.

Kenyatta is from East St. Louis, Illinois and currently resides on the southside of Chicago.  She earned her B.A. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her J.D. from the University of Wisconsin Law School.  Kenyatta is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.  She loves fishing, enjoys weightlifting, spoils her 13 nieces and nephews, has a true green thumb, and dislikes cooking – immensely.

Neil R. Pandey is the Vice President of Legal and Compliance (General Counsel) of Credico (USA) LLC.  In this role, Neil manages all legal and compliance matters for Credico and its affiliates. He implements strategic business practices, oversees all legal transactions and policies, manages risk and provides a broad array of legal and compliance guidance to Credico’s leadership. Prior to joining Credico, Neil worked as Associate Attorney in several law firms where his work focused on corporate white collar government investigations, commercial transactions and other forms of complex civil litigation. He brings over 10 years of legal expertise to the team at Credico.  After obtaining his B.A. from the University of Illinois in Champaign Urbana, Neil graduated with honors from American University’s Washington College of Law. While in law school, Neil served as a Note and Comment Editor on the Administrative Law Review, competed in several Moot Court competitions and published two legal articles.

Katie Flaherty serves as the Director, Legal Counsel – Employment for JLL. She is responsible for employment law compliance and advises the company on compliance with new and amended employment laws throughout the U.S. She also provides advice on a wide range of employment matters, such as wage and hour, EEO laws, leave laws, reasonable accommodation, pay transparency and equal pay laws, and many more. Prior to working for JLL, Katie worked in-house in higher education and practiced labor and employment law in the public sector.

Legal executive in a technology setting with diverse experience acquired over 15 years in commercial contracts/negotiations, employment law, compliance/risk management, data privacy, litigation, and human resources.

*Executive Management – Functional lead of a global team of attorneys and HR/legal professionals, responsible for overseeing employment law, immigration and employee mobility, employee relations and labor and employment support of M&A transactions

*Commercial Contracts/Negotiations – Experience drafting and negotiating a wide variety of development, licensing, managed service, supply and sales agreements

*Compliance/Risk Management/HR Support – Create and implement periodic compliance training; responsible for external compliance reporting; advise HR business partners on legal compliance, HR policies/procedures, personnel decisions, RIF’s, AAP’s, wage/hour, employment litigation, and M&A transactions/integration activities.

*General Advise and Counseling – Provide general legal counseling to EC, executive officers, HR Directors/managers, internal/external auditors, business until leads, and all other employees on a daily basis.

Armstrong Teasdale Partner Ida Shafaie counsels clients across industry sectors, primarily regarding complex civil rights claims and related state and local anti-discrimination laws. She has conducted in-depth investigations on behalf of clients, including Fortune 100 companies, educational institutions and government entities. Ida regularly assists employers in developing policies and procedures, and advises clients on noncompete, trade secret and restrictive covenant matters. She has successfully argued on behalf of her clients to secure temporary restraining orders in federal court. In addition to her active employment practice, Ida counsels on education matters, working with primary, secondary and post-secondary institutions. She works on matters involving public record laws as well as claims arising under Title IX, and has experience conducting Title IX training for university faculty and staff.

Christina Yates is currently the associate general counsel at Gemological Institute of America, Inc. (GIA) where she focuses on intellectual property, technology, litigation, working with GIA’s laboratory staff and law enforcement to return lost and stolen diamonds to their rightful owners.

Prior to joining GIA, Ms. Yates spent five years with DLA Piper in its Intellectual Property and Technology group counseling clients on trademark and copyright issues, and strategizing with clients and advising them on domestic and global trademark portfolios.  She also represented clients in state and federal court, as well as in USPTO actions.

Elvira Kovachevich is a Legislative and Regulatory Counsel and subject-matter expert on artificial intelligence at Allstate Insurance Company on the Government and Industry Relations team. She focuses on regulatory compliance on a state-by-state basis with an emphasis on adapting to current marketplace needs, particularly advising the business on data-privacy policies and incorporating legal innovation in the insurance industry.

Elvira holds a B.A. from Michigan State University, and a J.D. and certificates in Legal Innovation/Technology and Business from Chicago-Kent College of Law. She is currently earning a certificate in Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Business Strategy from MIT.

Prior to her legal career, Elvira worked in the public sector developing equitable and inclusive immigration policy in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Barry Freeman is a shareholder at Roetzel who, for 30 years, has defended employers of all sizes in litigation and administrative disputes: wage and hour collective and class actions, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, unfair competition, and trade secrets, non-competes, employee benefits, workers’ compensation, defamation, privacy rights, and more. He has particular strengths defending wage and hour class and collective actions nationwide, including using offers of judgment as a precise tool to cut-off and end class and collective actions. In addition, clients rely on Barry to provide sensible counseling, strategic advice, and guidance on a broad range of compliance issues. He is a Certified Labor and Employment Law Specialist by the Ohio State Bar Association, and he regularly provides employment law training to employers.

Christina advises and represents employers in a broad range of employment law matters, from discrimination, retaliation, wrongful discharge, and harassment, to cases involving contract disputes, restrictive covenants, trade secret theft and misappropriation, and unfair competition. She has litigated and tried cases in state and federal courts and frequently represents employers in various state and federal administrative agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, and the Department of Labor. Christina also provides employers of all sizes with day-to-day preventive counseling on topics such as FMLA and ADA compliance, compliance with state and federal cannabis laws, employee discipline, litigation prevention strategies, and employee handbook and policy development.

Christina is OSHA 30 certified and regularly advises employers regarding Occupational Safety and Health Act compliance, including representing employers during on-site OSHA inspections and informal settlement conferences, negotiating and resolving OSHA citations/penalties, and defending employers at administrative hearings with the OSHA Review Commission and related litigation. She also assists clients with the preparation and implementation of written safety programs.

In addition to safety audits and investigations, Christina also conducts workplace harassment and discrimination investigations and on-site training on a variety of employment law topics to help employers understand, prevent and correct discrimination in the workplace.

Patrick is a member of the firm’s Labor and Employment Client Service Group. He focuses his practice on employer-side labor and employment law, including employment-related litigation, traditional labor, compliance counseling, best practices, employee policies, and human resources training. He represents businesses in disputes alleging wage and hour violations, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, and similar claims. Patrick has extensive experience representing employers before state and federal courts, the EEOC, the NLRB, and Illinois state agencies.

Prior to joining BCLP, Patrick was an associate at a Chicago-based boutique labor and employment firm serving public and private sector employers nationwide. He also previously served as assistant counsel to Speaker Michael J. Madigan of the Illinois House of Representatives, where he served as staff counsel to the Committees on the Judiciary, Labor & Commerce, and Personnel & Pensions.

Patrick is the vice chair of the Labor & Employment Committee for the Young Lawyers Section for the Chicago Bar Association. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for Equality Illinois, the Midwest’s largest non-profit dedicated to equal treatment and social justice for the LGBT community, and a member of the Next Generation Board for La Casa Norte, a Chicago non-profit serving the needs of youth and families confronting homelessness.

During law school, Patrick served as president of the George Washington University Mock Trial Team, and a finalist in the Van Vleck Constitutional Law Moot Court Competition. He also was an intern at the U.S. Department of Justice, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.

Megan focuses her practice on the representation of management in all aspects of labor and employment law. She assists in providing day-to-day counseling to employers by researching and recommending best practices for companies on human resources issues such as terminations, compliance with employment laws, workplace investigations, and the preparation of policies and employment agreements. Megan aids in the defense of employers in discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and various other employment-related claims before judicial bodies and administrative agencies.
Megan assists government contracting clients across several industries in preparing annual affirmative action plans and defending against OFCCP audits. She conducts internal corporate investigations into allegations of harassment, discrimination, and other employee misconduct.
Prior to law school, Megan taught Kindergarten and Pre-Kindergarten in New York City through Teach for America and holds a Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education from Lehman College of the City University of New York. Megan continues to give back to the community serving several community organizations, including her role on the Advancement Committee and Board of Directors of the West Side Catholic Center and a founding member of the Magnificat Blue Streak Barrister.

Andrew devotes his practice to counseling and representing employers in all aspects of employment law and labor relations. He counsels employers of all sizes on key issues, including: compliance with discrimination and wage and hour laws; drafting, revising, and implementing employment policies; drafting employment, independent contractor, noncompetition, and severance agreements; managing leaves of absence; issuing employee discipline; and various aspects of the collective bargaining process. Andrew prides himself on his ability to serve as a trusted advisor and provide proactive and practical advice.
Given that conflict sometimes cannot be avoided, Andrew also devotes a significant portion of his practice to employment litigation, where he represents management in state and federal courts and before arbitrators and administrative agencies. Andrew has successfully defended employers in matters including discrimination, harassment, retaliation, misappropriation of trade secrets, and breaches of non-competition and employment agreements. Andrew also has successfully represented employers in traditional labor matters, including at arbitrations and before the National Labor Relations Board and State Employment Relations Board.
In his spare time, Andrew is actively involved in the community, including serving in a leadership role on the Boys & Girls Clubs of Cleveland’s Bridge Board.

Amber joined Laner Muchin in 2009 as an associate and has been a partner at the Firm since 2015. She regularly counsels clients on compliance-related and strategic issues arising under a broad range of federal, state and local employment laws.
Amber conducts employment-related corporate investigations in a variety of settings and frequently conducts supervisory training on a number of employment topics including maintaining a discrimination and harassment free workplace; effective documentation and discipline; and positive employee relations.
Amber also represents employers in labor law matters including labor arbitrations, collective bargaining, representation cases and other proceedings before the NLRB.

Margo is a nationally recognized employment attorney with more than twenty-five years of experience litigating complex and “bet the company” employment claims. Margo’s cases involve high stakes restrictive covenants and trade secrets, whistleblower claims, wage-and-hour issues, and statutory claims of harassment and discrimination. Margo also acts as a crisis manager and business advisor to her clients on best practices for workplace safety, compensation, leave issues, employment agreements, diversity and inclusion, individual and group discharges, and internal investigations. She has been widely recognized as one of the top employment attorneys in the country.

Margo serves as outside employment counsel for many clients nationwide. Clients praise Margo’s ability to contribute to a “positive, productive and inclusive work environment for employees” and describe her advocacy as “persistent, smart, tough and innovative.”

Margo is ranked in Chambers USA and is listed as a Labor & Employment Star in Benchmark Litigation. She has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America and Illinois Super Lawyers. Crain’s named Margo to its lists of the “Most Influential Women Lawyers in Chicago” and “Most Notable Women Executives.” Best Lawyers named Margo as one of 15 “Women of Influence” in the legal profession nationwide. She holds an “AV Preeminent” Peer Rating by Martindale-Hubbell (the highest possible rating).

Heather Renée Adams is a shareholder at Roetzel who practices traditional labor and employment law and provides practical guidance to employers across a spectrum of commercial and employment litigation matters, including single-plaintiff and multi-party cases, high-stakes whistleblower actions, wage and hour disputes, restrictive covenant litigation, and various other areas of employment law. She has a wealth of experience defending employers before civil rights and fair employment administrative agencies and commissions across the country. Heather has represented clients from diverse industries, including transportation; federal, state, and local government; higher education; healthcare; financial services and global retailers. She also has experience representing employers in union disputes, collective bargaining, labor arbitrations, fact-findings, conciliations, and hearings. Additionally, Heather routinely performs internal investigations and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility assessments.

Kerry Lin Davidson focuses her practice on labor and employment matters, including employment relations, HR strategies, and traditional labor matters. She has broad experience overseeing legal affairs and complex corporate issues for both public and private organizations.

Kerry has deep experience serving in an executive role as general corporate counsel. Prior to joining Greenberg Traurig, she served as sole leader of both legal and HR/LR functions for a large scrap metal and recycling company, where she provided primary oversight of legal, risk, and compliance matters. In this role, she handled litigation, union negotiations, compliance and training programs, internal investigations, and traditional employee relations matters, including implementation of new policies and incentive programs, as well as ensuring compliance with the labor requirements of U.S. Navy and other long-term customer service contracts. As the chief legal officer, Kerry has often served as a single-point-of-contact and public relations representative, including as primary liaison with U.S. governmental agencies such as EEOC, FEPA, DOL, FBI, NLRB, OSHA, EPA, and their state equivalents. Kerry has also successfully led employer start-up activities and emergency task forces, including in response to ransomware and other privacy threats.

David represents management nationwide in virtually all areas of labor and employment law. David’s goal is to identify what each client seeks to achieve and then realize that end. His dedication to service is manifest in his accessibility to the clients he serves.
David’s experience includes routinely handling all forms of employment litigation and class actions for large corporations across the country, including Title VII, ADEA, FMLA, FLSA, ADA, and breach of contract and employment torts.

Bill Pokorny is a partner at Franczek P.C. Bill has more than two decades of experience advising employers of all sizes in a wide range of industries on all aspects of labor and employment law. Whether he is talking an HR leader through a difficult termination, helping management minimize risk from a reduction in force, leading an organization-wide wage and hour compliance audit, conducting a sensitive internal investigation, or representing a client in high-stakes, high-profile litigation with a former executive, Bill’s broad experience gives him the expertise and perspective that employers need from their outside counsel.

Matt Radler is a partner in Honigman LLP’s labor and employment department who focuses his practice on counseling companies about and litigating noncompete, wage and hour, trade secret and employment discrimination matters.  Matt’s practice places a particular emphasis on compliance issues affecting multi-state employers, who must contend with a variety of state laws governing wages, leave, and working conditions.  A graduate of the George Washington University Law School and Northwestern University, he joined Honigman in 2015.

Shawndra Jones partners with employers to help them comply with labor and employment laws as they pursue their goals, including those related to DEI. She has spoken extensively on DEI-related topics and the legal and ethical issues associated with social media and emerging technologies.

Named among the “Ones to Watch” in 2023, Shawndra was selected by her peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© (2024 & 2025) for Employment Law – Management. The National Black Lawyers chose Shawndra for membership in the “Top 100” for New York in 2023 and 2024. Additionally, Shawndra was a 2022 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Fellow. In 2016, Shawndra received one of the National Bar Association’s “40 Under 40 Nation’s Best Advocates” awards and its “Excellence in Innovation” award.

Shawndra is active in multiple professional organizations and serves on Epstein Becker Green’s Diversity and Professional Development Committee, a board-level committee.

After graduating cum laude with Distinction in Psychology from Yale University, Shawndra earned her J.D. from Columbia Law School, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and the editor-in-chief of the Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems. Following law school, Shawndra served as a law clerk to the Honorable Alvin W. Thompson in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.

Chris Rauch is Chief Intellectual Property Counsel and Assistant Secretary of ITW, a diversified equipment and consumables manufacturer that employs more than 46,000 people and has operations in 51 countries. Chris heads ITW’s worldwide intellectual property legal team, which is responsible for all aspects of IP support for the enterprise, including IP litigation, IP transactions, IP risk mitigation, and developing and enforcing ITW’s portfolio of patents, trademarks, copyrights, domains, and trade secrets.  Chris also heads AI governance and policy for the enterprise.  Before joining ITW, Chris was a partner at Sonnenshein Nath & Rosenthal LLP (now Dentons.)

Professional Associations and Memberships

Adler Planetarium – Board Trustee

Uncharted Learning, NFP | INCubatoredu – Coach

Education

University of Illinois-Chicago School of Law (J.D., LL.M.)

Illinois Institute of Technology (B.S., Electrical and Computer Engineering)