Mr. Sachs serves as head of the Labor and Employment Group at Howard and Howard Attorneys PLLC, a business law firm with offices in Michigan, Illinois and Nevada. He graduated from Northwestern University in 1986, before matriculating to the University of Illinois College of Law, where for two years he served as Research Assistant to former Dean, Thomas M. Mengler.
Since graduating from law school in 1989, Mr. Sachs has practiced labor and employment law exclusively for management clients ranging in size from small community hospitals to Fortune 500 corporations. On the traditional labor law side, Mr. Sachs frequently counsels clients when unions attempt to organize their employees, or when unionized employees attempt to oust their incumbent union. He routinely serves as chief negotiator in collective bargaining negotiations on behalf of both public and private sector employers and he has litigated numerous grievance arbitrations. Mr. Sachs also conducts various procedures before the National Labor Relations Board and the Illinois State Labor Relations Board.
On the employment law side, Mr. Sachs defends employers in state and federal court proceedings across the country, as well as in administrative proceedings before the United States Departments of Labor, various state and local Human Rights Commissions and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. For many clients, he takes a proactive approach to employment litigation avoidance by becoming an active part of the human resource team. For example, he regularly counsels clients on managing excessive employee absences and leave abuses consistent with the Family and Medical Leave Act and disability discrimination laws.
Mr. Sachs is a frequent speaker on personnel matters for employers as well as various academic institutions and employer organizations, including the Society for Human Resource Management, the Michigan Manufacturers' Association, the Illinois Bankers' Association, the Illinois Community Bankers Association, the Southern Illinois Healthcare Human Resource Association, the Council on Education in Management, Lorman Educational Services, the National Business Institute, Millikin University and the University of Illinois, Springfield.
Mr. Sachs also serves as the Chairman of the Allocation Committee of the Howard & Howard Community Reinvestment Fund, an employee-funded, donor-advised trust that has donated over $3 million to local charitable organizations since its inception in 1986. He serves on the Executive Board of the Central Illinois Chapter of the American Red Cross, and is a former Chair of the Clara Barton Society. Mr. Sachs also serves on the Board of the Heart of Illinois United Way. For the past several years, he has chaired the Legal Services Division for the United Way Campaign Cabinet and is a past co-chair of the United Way Tocqueville Society. Recently, he was elected to serve on the national board of Pheasants Forever, a conservation organization dedicated to the preservation of wildlife habitat across the nation. Mr. Sachs has been designated as a "Master of the Bench" by the Abraham Lincoln Inn of the American Inns of Court where he now serves as a member "Emeritus." He also has been peer-rated as an Illinois "Super Lawyer" and an "Illinois Leading Lawyer" and enjoys peer recognition as an AV-rated attorney by Martindale Hubbell.
Professional Accomplishments
· Illinois Super Lawyers, 2009 - 2011
· Illinois Leading Lawyers 2008 - 2011
Affiliations or Memberships
Abraham Lincoln Inn of the American Inns of Courts Master of the Bench, Emeritus
Peoria County Bar Association
Illinois State Bar Association
Sections on Civil Litigation and Labor and Employment