Mary Smigielski

I am a partner in the Chicago and Los Angeles offices of Lewis Brisbois, Midwest Regional Vice Chair of the firm's national Labor & Employment Practice, head of employment law in Chicago, and Co-Chair of the firm's Illinois Biometric Information Protection Act (BIPA) practice. I have considerable experience partnering with all levels of business leadership to achieve complex business objectives, define, assess and control legal risk, and implement workplace policies and best practices while managing multi-discipline teams and big ticket litigation. I handle matters including complex and single-plaintiff litigation, charges of discrimination, nationwide counseling and sensitive workplace investigations, including C-Suite level as well as BIPA compliance, advice and counsel, and class litigation defense. Previously, I was Associate General Counsel, Employment and Labor, for Sears Holdings, then a leading integrated retailer with over 1,200 full-line and specialty retail stores throughout the United States. The Sears Holdings family included Kmart Corporation, Sears, Roebuck and Co., Sears’ Home Services, Sears Auto and multiple other brick-and-mortar and e-commerce businesses. The enterprise employed over 200,000 associates. While in-house, I handled all aspects of employment law and counseling for 700+ Kmart retail locations nationally and off shore, the Sears/Kmart Supply Chain/Distribution network, Inventory Management, SHC Real Estate, Asset Protection, Design/Apparel, Home Appliances, Marketing, Consumer Electronics, Sears Brands (Craftsman/Kenmore/Diehard), and various other business units. My litigation docket included class/collective actions and single plaintiff cases across the country and in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Project work ran the gamut from M&A to executive initiatives. Prior to joining Sears Holdings, I was Of Counsel in the Labor and Employment Law Practice Group of Morgan Lewis. My practice focused on the representation of management in complex and single plaintiff litigation, nationwide counseling, and sensitive workplace investigations.