SERVICES

Appeals

Our attorneys have also been successful in drafting and arguing appeals before the U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal. Christopher Garcia and David Manjarres made law in the 7th Circuit Court of Appeal in a claim brought pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act. Having won at the trial court level our attorneys were in the perfect position to defend and frame the relevant appealable issues.
In appellate work the cases are won on the briefs. Oral argument is generally an opportunity for the panel of judges to ask specific questions about arguments that should have been presented in the parties’ respective briefs. Having published attorneys who have also taught writing courses in both a law school and graduate school context, translates into legal briefs penned in a forceful and elegant style.

Employment Litigation

Our attorneys have experience litigating single, multi-plaintiff and class action Title VII lawsuits brought in federal and state agencies and courts throughout the United States. Whether it is a response to a state agency or an E.E.O.C. Charge of Discrimination or taking over expert discovery in a federal Title VII trial, our attorneys have the experience and expertise, our attorneys have represented corporations on employment related matters, including policy making, EPL training, violence assessment, and corporate investigations of violations of law and corporate policy.

Trial Practice

Our attorneys have taken employment cases to verdict in Chicago and in foreign jurisdictions. We have also tried general tort and premises liability cases involving violence and threats of violence. While most cases do not actually go to verdict, having actual trial experience—successfully translating a complicated fact pattern into a coherent story that a judge or jury can realize on a first hearing–is vital for both pleading and discovery. Our attorneys understand how everything from an answer to a complaint to expert discovery paves the foundation for both verdict and favorable settlement. The admissions gained in discovery are only leverage in settlement because of their potential effect at trial.

Diversity

IS THIS YOUR CORPORATE FAMILY?

Diversity is an essential part of litigation strategy because it represents the conscience of a company—its commitment to equality and fairness for the residents of the neighborhoods it serves; and those very residents are part of the jury pool who will decide its fate when things go wrong.
We have seen an all-white, male trial team representing corporate defendants in a dangerous Title VII race discrimination case, not realizing the optics of their presentation to the judge and jury. And before any evidence could be introduced at trial, the jury clearly saw a storyline that revealed one of the corporate defendants as obtuse and privileged. A lethal combination in litigation and trial.
What we offer for litigation and trial of Title VII and state agency Charges of Discrimination cases is one of the most experienced and diverse litigation teams in the Chicagoland area. We offer counseling for HR teams on hiring, promotion, investigation and discipline of legal and policy violations within a diverse framework in both English and Spanish.

Employment Practices Liability Training

We train management teams on employment matters, including how to respond to a request for an accommodation pursuant to Title VII and the ADA. We work with and counsel Human Resource professionals on responding to Charges of Discrimination filed in the E.E.O.C. or a state agency, policy making, violence assessment and prevention.
Our attorneys present seminars and training workshops throughout the country on multiple-employer liability and professional malpractice issues. We have written and lectured extensively on employment discrimination and labor law topics, authored numerous articles involving Title VII defense, particularly issues involving the Americans with Disabilities Act and Title VII religious discrimination claims.

WRITING CURRICULUM FOR ASSOCIATES

The Garcia Law Group has formulated a curriculum for training associates and paralegals in drafting every type of legal writing from electronic communications with partners and insurance adjusters to correspondence with clients and opposing counsel.
The modern workplace contains more generations trying to communicate with one another than at any other time in our country. Some who got through college with a typewriter are on the same online workspace with native TikTokers who only know internet presentation through a designed avatar and identity. They are native to the emoji and the tweet.
Those who wish to lead employees in the contemporary workspace need to understand the ways in which each generation perceives information, direction, and inspiration. Many in the workplace are literally speaking different languages. Comprehensible communication among and between such profoundly different perspectives within the same virtual workspace requires a systematic training model. See article published by Christopher Garcia in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin on literacy and the contemporary workplace.

News & Opinions

Christopher Garcia’s analysis of the Supreme Court’s decision in the Maine vaccine mandate case, John Does 1-6 v Janet Mills, et al, 2021 WL 4860328, was published in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin in November, 2021.” Christopher Garcia’s analysis of the challenge to vaccine mandates in academic medical centers was the focus of an article “A Law Unto Ourselves,” published December 9, 2021.

Employment Law Quarterly

Winter, 2021: “Miscommunication in the Workplace.” “Legal Challenges to Vaccine Mandates.”