Paul E. Starkman

Partner

Mr. Starkman is the Chair of the Labor & Employment Law Practice Group at Arnstein & Lehr LLP. Since joining the firm in 1986, he has acquired extensive experience counseling public and private employers on a broad range of personnel matters and corporate transactions with employment-related issues. He has also successfully handled litigation involving “cutting edge” discrimination claims, actions seeking injunctive relief, class actions, compensations and benefit claims and other employment related issues in federal and state courts throughout the country.

Professional Activities and Achievements

Mr. Starkman is a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment lawyers. He is an active member of the American Bar Association and the Society of Human Resources Professionals (SHRP). He is a Co-Chair of the Contingent Worker Subcommittee, a past Chair of the At-Will Employment Subcommittee and has served as the Management Chair of the Worker Dislocation Sub committee of the ABA Employment Rights & Responsibilities Committee.

Mr. Starkman also frequently speaks at conferences and seminars throughout the country sponsored by the Bureau of National Affairs (BNA), the Practicing Law Institute (PLI), American Law Institute-American Bar Association (ALI-ABA), and other professional groups on employment issues. He has also appeared on television and other media outlets on employment-related issues.

Recent Publications and Lectures

Mr. Starkman has been quoted in such national publications as the Wall Street Journal, the National Law Journal, Lawyer USA Today, Inside Counsel and CFO.com among others.

Mr. Starkman is one of the principal authors of Employment Arbitration: Law and Practice (West 2007-2010), the 1,200 page treatise on employment arbitration and updates are available for purchase at: http://west.thomson.com.

Some of his other published articles and written materials include:

“What You Need to Know About Monitoring Employees’ Off-Duty Social Networking Activity” posted on May 3, 2010 to Chief Executive Magazine’s (ChiefExcecutive.net).  In addition, Paul Starkman has presented programs on the workplace impact of social networking for the ABA, ALI-ABA and others.

“Refueling Assistance for Drivers with Disabilities” 32 ABA Mental and Physical Disability Law Reporter 493 (July August 2008). Co-authored with John D. Kemp and Elizabeth Doyle.

“Measuring the Effectiveness of Corporate Compliance and Ethics Programs: An Outside Counsel’s Perspective,” 1661 PLI Corp 225 (Practicing Law Institute March-June 2008).

“Responding to Economic Crises: Complying with WARN Act Obligations,” presented at 2008 ABA Annual CLE.  Program is available with subscription at ABAnet.org.

A 90-minute DVD, “Video Leadership Seminars™: Winning Legal Strategies for Employment & Labor Law” (ReedLogic. September 2006), featuring Paul Starkman discussing winning strategies for harassment and discrimination litigation and other commonly faced employment issues.  Available for purchase directly from ReedLogic at 1-877-34-LOGIC, www.reedlogic.com/rl79.asp, and  at Amazon.com, Barnes & Nobel. Ingram Book Group, Baker & Taylor and through Bowker at its title listings for Books/DVDS in Print.

“Protecting  Your Company’s Competitive Advantage – Rethinking Restrictive Covenants & Alternative Strategies” (Executive Reports – Aspatore Publishing 2006).  Available for purchase at http://www.reportbuyer.com/business_services/law/protecting_companys_competitive_advantage.html.  Paul Starkman’s 40-page research report written for company executives features strategies for protecting confidential information and forming more effective restrictive covenants.

“Handling Requests For Personal Attorneys During Internal Investigations,” 94 Illinois Bar Journal 290 (May 2006) and reprinted in The Brief 26 (Spring 2007) the newsletter for the ABA Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section.

“Perspectives of Outside Management Counsel on Sexual Harassment Cases,” published in the book entitled Dealing With Employee Lawsuits: Strategies for the Prevention and Defense of Workplace-Related Claims (Aspatore 2005). Available at www.aspatore.com/store/bookdetails.asp?id=61.

Mr. Starkman’s article on “Blogging and Instant Messaging in the Workplace” was published in Law Technology News (Nov. 2005).

“Check This Out: Employers Use of Background Investigations in Hiring Employees,” presented at 2005 ABA ERR midwinter meeting and available at: www.bna.com/bnabooks/ababna/rnr/2005/starkman.doc

“The Employment Law Impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act,” 28 Employee Relations Law Journal 25 (Spring 2003).

“Open Issues after Circuit City: Still No Easy Answers on Mandatory Arbitration,” 27 Employee Relations Law Journal 69 (Spring 2002).

“The ADA’s Essential Job Function Requirement: Just How Essential Does An Essential Job Function Have To Be,” 26 Employee Relations Law Journal 43 (Spring 2001).

“Mergers and Acquisitions: A Checklist of Employment Issues,” 13 DePaul Business Law Journal 47 (Fall/Spring 2000/2001).

“Answering the Tough Questions about Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Under the ADA and FMLA,” 25 Employee Relations Law Journal 43 (Spring 2000).

“Learning the New Rules of Sexual Harassment: Faragher, Ellerth and Beyond,” 66 Defense Counsel Journal 317 (July 1999) (Selected as one of the year’s best articles by the Insurance Law Review.).

“The Good, the Bad, and the Uncooperative: Dealing with the Uncooperative Employee During an Internal Investigation,” 25 Employee Relations Law Journal 69 (Summer 1999).

Education

DePaul University College of Law, Chicago, Illinois (J.D., 1984)
University of Wisconsin/Madison (B.A., 1980)

Bar Admissions

State of Illinois
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Northern, Central, and Southern Districts of Illinois (including Trial Bar)