David J. Fish

David J. Fish Founding Partner, Leader of Litigation Department

About

I'm an employment lawyer, employment law professor, expert witness, husband, father, yogi, meditator, and former burrito-eating champion — a combination I wear with equal pride. I'm the founder of Workplace Law Partners, P.C. in Chicago, a firm my wife and I built from scratch at our kitchen table that has grown to a dozen lawyers over the past two decades.

My first job, at thirteen, was washing dishes for $3.35 an hour. The work was hot and unglamorous, and — strange as it sounds — I loved it. Maybe it was the rhythm of it, or just the satisfaction of keeping up with the chaos. Either way, it gave me an early and lasting appreciation for how hard people work to support themselves and their families.

I started out on the defense side representing companies. Everything changed when I took a chance on a woman who had endured years of sexual harassment by her employer. Helping her finally stand up for herself redirected my career. I learned that giving a voice to people who feel powerless, or afraid to speak, wasn't just meaningful work — it was my work.

I've stayed with that work because I understand how deeply a job reaches into a person's life: their dignity, their stress, their finances, their family, their sense of who they are. My practice covers discrimination, retaliation, whistleblower claims, wage-and-hour disputes, and executive matters. I've represented tens of thousands of clients, tried several substantial cases to verdict, and helped recover hundreds of millions of dollars for the people I serve.

My firm volunteers regularly at Prairie State Legal Services, providing free employment law advice to low-income and elderly clients — work that earned us the Illinois State Bar Association's Pro Bono Service Award, a recognition I count among my proudest.

That work has brought honors I don't take for granted. Lawdragon named me one of the nation's top 500 lawyers, Crain's Chicago Business named me a Notable Leader in Employment & Labor Law — an honor I was humbled to be the only employee-side lawyer to receive — and I've been selected to Super Lawyers every year since 2018. I graduated second in my class from Northern Illinois University College of Law, and today I teach employment law there as an adjunct professor and was recently named its Alumni of the Year. David is an arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association, speaks frequently on legal issues, and testified before the United States Judicial Conference in Dallas, Texas regarding electronic discovery issues. A list of his publications is available here.

Yoga, meditation, and a commitment to self-improvement have become anchors of my life. I believe that being a better lawyer starts with being a calmer, more present person.

My wife and I recently became empty nesters when the youngest of our three children left for college. Rather than settle into quiet suburban life in Naperville where we raised our family, we did the opposite — we moved to downtown Chicago, trading carpool lines and youth sports for walkable streets, great restaurants, and the relentless energy of the city. Our children — Ben, Abby, and Nate (along with Kelev, our fluffy Sheepadoodle) — remain the center of our world, and we're genuinely enjoying the adventure of rediscovering life together.

To hear more from David, and learn about his work, click below:

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