The Employment Law & HR Summit: Chicago, scheduled for April 23, 2026, is a premier event organized by CenterForce. This summit brings together senior in-house legal and HR leaders from across the Midwest to engage in strategic planning, legal analysis, and practical implementation frameworks aimed at navigating the region's complex and evolving compliance landscape.
Key topics to be addressed include performance management evolution, discrimination and harassment claims, litigation-proofing the workplace, pay transparency and equity, wrongful termination, and training mandates. These sessions are designed to equip attendees with the knowledge and tools necessary to manage multi-state compliance obligations and anticipate federal regulatory shifts.
The summit offers 5 hours of Illinois State CLE credits, providing valuable continuing education opportunities for legal professionals. Attendees will also benefit from networking opportunities with peers and industry experts, fostering connections that can enhance their professional practice.
This event is ideal for General Counsel, Chief Human Resources Officers, Employment Litigation Counsel, Corporate Legal Executives, and Senior HR leaders. By participating, attendees will gain privileged access to regional legal intelligence, strategic peer benchmarking, and forward-looking compliance models, enabling them to anticipate regulatory shifts, reduce litigation exposure, and develop workforce strategies that are legally sound and culturally inclusive.
Speakers(4)
Chris Rauch
Chief IP Counsel at Illinois Tool Works Inc.
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.)
Judith Dever
Director - Legal Counsel, Litigation and Employment at JLL
Experienced lawyer with a demonstrated history of managing attorneys and litigating cases in the government administration industry. Skilled in labor and employment law, human resources, trials, arbitrations, administrative hearings, police accountability, and public policy. Strong legal professional with a J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law.
Matthew Radler
Partner at Honigman
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
Member of the Firm at Epstein Becker Green
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.
Event Details
- Date
- September 15, 2025
- Location
- 🇺🇸 Chicago, United States
- Audience
- General Counsel, Chief Human Resources Officers, Employment Litigation Counsel, Corporate Legal Executives, Senior HR leaders
- CLE Credits
- 5 Hrs IL State CLE