Michael Leech is a nationally recognized authority on employment law. He is a trial lawyer, mediator and co-author of legal textbooks. The members of the founding class of Fellows in the College of Labor & Employment Lawyers selected him as one of the 1997 Class of Fellows in the College. Mr. Leech is the designated liaison for the College to the American Law Institute's Restatement of Employment Law project.

Over the last 25 years, Mr. Leech has handled a variety of different kinds of business litigation, particularly employment cases. He has tried to jury verdict cases arising under the full range of employment laws, including both federal and state discrimination laws (race, national origin, sex, sexual harassment and religion) as well as actions under state contract and tort law (retaliatory discharge, intentional infliction of emotional distress, interference with contract, fraud and invasion of privacy).

Mr. Leech has an active practice as a mediator of employment (including wage and hour class actions) and other commercial disputes, such as non-competition and corporate control. He brings his depth of legal experience in litigation to the process of helping parties in a dispute to see one another’s perspectives and achieve a reasonable settlement, where possible. This occurs in about 85 to 90 percent of cases. He also acts as counsel for clients in mediation and arbitration. Mr. Leech is a Certified Mediator in the Cook County Court-Annexed Major Case Civil Mediation Program. He is a member of the Association of Attorney-Mediators, and founder and President of its Illinois Chapter.

Mr. Leech has defended suits by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission asserting a pattern and practice of discrimination. He has defended other civil rights and commercial class action litigation.

Mr. Leech has handled individual cases and provided counseling in all areas of employment law, including Title VII, ADA, ADEA, non-competition agreements, employee breach of fiduciary duty, confidentiality and trade secret disputes, Equal Pay Act, ERISA, FMLA, shareholder disputes, False Claims Act, defamation and other business tort claims, corporate indemnification, Illinois Human Rights Act, breach of contract and the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act. In addition to his practice in the labor and employment field, Mr. Leech has handled business litigation including actions for breach of contract, director and officer liability claims, securities law actions, partnership and shareholder litigation, attorneys' professional liability defense, defamation and real estate/construction disputes. Mr. Leech is a fellow in the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. In April 2006 he was selected by Lawdragon.com for inclusion in their list, “Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators,” their list of the top 500 litigation attorneys in the country. In September 2006, Mr. Leech was selected for inclusion in “The Lawdragon 3,000 Leading Lawyers in America.”

He joined Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP in February 1978. He is a founding member of the ABA Labor Section’s Committee on Employee Rights and Responsibilities and of the National Employment Lawyers Association. He received Mediation training from Lee Jay Berman of Los Angeles , training committee chair of the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution.

He has been recognized by his peers as a Leading Lawyer in the category of Employment Law: Management. In addition, Mr. Leech holds the AV® Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell, its highest rating for ethics and legal ability.

In 2005 and again in 2006, Mr. Leech was named to the Super Lawyers list in Arbitration/Mediation, by Illinois Super Lawyers magazine. Since 2007, he has been named annually in the area of Alternative Dispute Resolution. Mr. Leech is co-author of "Employment Termination: Rights and Remedies" (Bureau of National Affairs, 1985, 2d ed., 1992). He was a senior editor of the book’s supplement, published in 2003, now updated by the ABA Labor Section Committee on Employee Rights and Responsibilities. He contributed the chapter on “National Origin Discrimination” to Lindermann & Grossman, "Employment Discrimination Law" (Bureau of National Affairs, 3d ed., 1996), and also contributed to Lindermann, "Sexual Harassment in Employment Law" (Bureau of National Affairs, 1994).

Mr. Leech is the original editor of, and remains the chapter author on “Partnership and Minority Shareholders” for the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education's Handbook on "Employment Termination" (1988, Supp. 1990, 1992; 2d ed., 1994, Supp. 1988; 3d ed. 2002).

His articles include “Damages Discovery Checklist for Employment Cases,” in The Practical Litigator, May 2009.

Mr. Leech speaks frequently at employment law seminars conducted by the American Bar Association, the American Law Institute, the Practising Law Institute, the Illinois State Bar Association, the Chicago Bar Association, and Loyola University of Chicago. Recent papers and talks have dealt with Employee Privacy Rights in the Computer Age (e-mail, computer searches, telephone eavesdropping); Sanctions in Federal Court; Damages in Employment Cases; Mediation Confidentiality; Risk Management to Avoid Sanctions; Covenants Not To Compete Under Illinois Law; Opening Statements; and Partner and Minority Shareholder Rights. Some of his presentations include:

• “Cross Examination of the Human Resources Director,” Hinshaw’s 2009 Annual Labor & Employment Seminar, Hoffman Estates, Illinois, October 2009.
• “The Pros and Cons of Mediation and Arbitration,” Hinshaw’s 2008 Annual Labor & Employment Seminar, Oak Brook, Illinois, November 2008.
• “Mediating Workplace Harassment & Retaliation Claims,” National Employment Lawyers Association seminar, “2008 Representing Workers in Harassment & Retaliation Claims,” Chicago, Illinois, October 2008.
• “Our Research is Not Enough: The Struggle to Define Workplace Bullying,” panelist, Association on Employment Practices and Principles Conference (AEPP), Chicago, Illinois, October 2008.
• “Legal Issues Affecting Loss Control Profession and Practice,” panelist, American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) Emerging Issues – Emerging Challenges Loss Control Symposium, Chicago, Illinois, October 2008.
• “Litigation Strategies: Damage and Other Remedies,” Practising Law Institute 37th Annual Employment Law Institute, Chicago, Illinois, October 2008.
• “Legal Update,” Northern Illinois Society of Human Resources Management (NISHRM), Highland Park, Illinois, September 2008.
• “Negotiation and Mediation,” National Employment  Lawyer's Association, annual Seventh Circuit Conference, Chicago, Illinois, February 2008.
  Co-chair, American Law Institute-American Bar Association, Damages In Employment Cases Conference, Washington, D.C., February 2008.
• "Calculating Back & Front Pay," "Valuing Fringe Benefits and Other Elements of Recovery," "Punitive & Liquidated Damages" and "Using Damage Issues To Secure Favorable Settlements," American Law Institute-American Bar Association, Damages In Employment Cases Conference, Washington, D.C., February 2008.
• “Counterclaims in Employment Cases,” Illinois Chapter of the National Employment Lawyer's Association, Chicago, Illinois, January 2008.
  Evaluator, American Bar Association Section on Labor & Employment Law's annual Student Trial Advocacy Competition finals, Chicago, Illinois, January 2008.
• “Defendant’s Mock Trial Presentation,” American Law Institute/American Bar Association 20th Annual ALI-ABA Court of Study for Plaintiffs’ and Defendants’ Bars, Washington, D.C., November 2007.
• “Covenants and Other Problematic Policies,” Hinshaw’s “Effectively Dealing with Current Labor & Employment Issues” seminar, Chicago, Illinois, September 2007.
• “Employment Law: Maximizing the Effectiveness of Your Employee Team and Protecting Against the Greatest Employment Risks,” Law Seminars International’s “Corporate Counsel as the Jack of All Trades, Chicago, Illinois, September 2006.
• “Mediation Preparation and Employer Strategies,” Hinshaw seminar “Effectively Dealing with Current Labor & Employment Issues,” Chicago, Illinois , September 2006.
• "Privacy in the Workplace," 34th Annual Labor & Employment Law Institute, Practising Law Institute, Chicago, Illinois, October 2005.
• "Mediating the Litigated Case," attorney-mediator presenter, six-day mediation training program sponsored by Hinshaw, featuring the faculty of Pepperdine Law School's Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, Chicago, Illinois, September 8-10, September 29-October 1, 2005.
• "IP, Technology & Non-Competition Issues in Employment Law," co-chair and featured speaker, Law Seminars International, Chicago, Illinois, September 2005.
• "Employment Discrimination & Civil Rights Actions in Federal and State Courts," American Law Institute - American Bar Association CLE program, Chicago, Illinois, September 2005.
• "Ethical Issues in Representing Multiple Plaintiffs or Defendants," American Bar Association Section of Labor and Employment Law's Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois, August, 2005.
• "The Hazards of Representing Multiple Clients in the Same Case," American Bar Association meeting, Summer 2005.
• "Common Law Tort Claims," National Employment Lawyers' Association Annual Convention, 2005.
• "Legal Ethics for Employment Lawyers," American Law Institute - American Bar Association program on employment discrimination law, 2005.
• "Enforceability on Non-Competition Agreements, Law Seminars International, conference on "Trade Secrets for Employment Lawyers," 2005.
• "Mediation of Trade Secret Disputes," Law Seminars International, conference on "Trade Secrets for Employment Lawyers," 2005.
• "Challenging Expert Testimony," Law Seminars International conference, Washington, D.C., December 2004.
• "Information Management for Expert Witnesses," Law Seminars International conference, Washington, D.C., December 2004.
• "Alternative Dispute Resolution," Hinshaw seminar, Chicago, Illinois, December 2004.
• "Privacy in the Electronic Age," 33rd Annual Labor & Employment Law Institute, Practising Law Institute, Chicago, Illinois, October 2004.