Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP is pleased to announce that 80 lawyers are recognized in the 2026 edition of The Best Lawyers in America, with ten receiving this honor for the first time. Additionally, 22 Hinshaw lawyers are included in The Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch.

The national law firm of Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP is pleased to announce that 75 of the firm's lawyers have been selected by their peers for inclusion in the 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. In addition, 30 Hinshaw lawyers were selected by their peers for inclusion in the 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch.

The national law firm of Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP is pleased to announce that 73 of the firm's lawyers have been selected by their peers for inclusion in the 2024 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. In addition, 28 Hinshaw lawyers were selected by their peers for inclusion in the 2024 edition of The Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch.

Hinshaw partners Anthony Antognoli, Lisa Burman, and James Harbert have each authored chapters in the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education (IICLE) handbook titled Employment Termination: Procedures, Grounds, and Challenges 2022 Edition. IICLE is the premier provider of continuing legal education in Illinois. Founded in 1961, the Institute publishes a comprehensive set of handbooks designed by and for Illinois attorneys.

A team of Hinshaw authors from the firm's Labor and Employment practice contributed three chapters to the latest edition of the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education's (IICLE) Employment Termination: Procedures, Grounds, and Challenges handbook. The handbook provides information needed to establish the basis for employment termination, as well as the proper procedures to carry it out and responses to questions that may arise.

Hinshaw labor and employment attorneys from the Midwest, East Coast, and West Coast will address developments in the ever-changing landscape of employment law claims, including significant court decisions, changes to state and federal law affecting their region as well as other important trends, legislation and decisions of which every employer should be aware.

For more information, please visit Hinshaw's 24th Annual Labor & Employment Seminar page.

Hinshaw's Annual Labor & Employment Seminar will be held on Thursday, October 20, 2016 at The Stonegate Conference & Banquet Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.Join in-house legal counsel, business leaders, and human resource professionals for an informative seminar that examines and analyzes current issues affecting employers and offers practical strategies for minimizing your company's exposure to claims. As in previous years, attendees will be able to earn CLE and HRCI continuing education credit for this full-day seminar.

The Hinshaw employment team recently published an e-alert on a topic that should also be of interest to our blog readers. The alert describes a provision in the new tax law that provides a tax credit for employers who offer paid FMLA leave to eligible employees, along with a description of eligibility requirements. You can read the alert on the Hinshaw website.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act requires that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) establish the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program (the Program), which is designed to provide federal reimbursement to participating plan sponsors for a portion of the costs of providing health coverage to qualifying early retirees. This Alert summarizes the key elements of the Program and reviews the steps that plan sponsors must take in order to apply for Program reimbursements. On June 7, 2010, an application for participation in the Program was published in draft form on the HHS website. The application process has not yet been opened, but will begin sometime prior to June 30, 2010. The date on which applications will begin to be accepted, along with information as to how and where to send completed applications, will be posted on the HHS website in the coming weeks. Applications will be processed in the order in which they are received, and incomplete applications will be denied and must be resubmitted. Overview of the Program

The new federal tax law, signed by President Trump in December, contains a number of provisions that will impact the workplace and employers. In a previous alert, we described how the new tax law eliminated the ability to claim a deduction for confidential sexual harassment or sexual abuse settlements. Today, we describe changes to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). (As many are aware, FMLA requires employers to provide certain employees with up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave annually for specified family and medical reasons. The leave may be paid or unpaid.)   

Cop's Facebook Posts About Police Chief's Decisions and Leadership Not Protected Speech

One of the many changes affecting employers as a result of the Affordable Care Act is a new annual fee payable to the IRS applicable to self-insured health plans. Each employer who sponsors a self-insured health plan is subject to this new fee, called the "patient-centered outcomes research fee" or "PCORI fee." Most, but not all, flexible spending account plans are exempt. For the first plan year, the PCORI fee is equal to $1 multiplied by the "average number of lives covered." The PCORI fee must be paid to the IRS on an annual basis and is reported on IRS Form 720, Quarterly Excise Tax Return. The Form 720 and payment are due on Wednesday, July 31, 2013, for calendar year plans, as well as any other plan with a plan year that ended in October, November, or December of 2012. The next due date will be July 31, 2014. Because deposits are not required for this fee, employers are not required to pay the fee using the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS). Please click here to access Form 720. The fee is reported on the line on page 2 in Part II labelled "Applicable self-insured health plans." Please click here to access the Form 720 Instructions, where more detailed information is set forth on pages 8 and 9. (A separate, corresponding fee is imposed on insurance companies for insured group health plans).

"Palpable Tension” Does Not Support Retaliation ClaimA human resources representative filed a charge of discrimination against her employer with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleging that she did not receive a promotion because of her race. More than a year after her charge was filed, the employee received a written warning for violating a workplace rule. She eventually sued her employer alleging discrimination based on her failure to be promoted, and retaliation based on the written warning. The district court held that the failure to promote claim was untimely, and that the receipt of the written warning was insufficient to support a retaliation claim. On appeal, the employee acknowledged that the written warning alone was insufficient to support her retaliation claim, but argued that there was “a palpable tension” at the time she received the warning because of her pending EEOC charge, which heightened the impact of the written warning. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit rejected this argument, holding that an employee’s subjective opinion regarding tension in the workplace cannot turn an otherwise benign event into an actionable claim for retaliation. While it is important to use caution when disciplining an employee who has raised a complaint of discrimination, written warnings and negative performance evaluations are generally insufficient to support a claim of discrimination or retaliation.Jones v. Res-Care, Inc., No. 09-3076 (7th Cir. July 16, 2010)