Mary Aileen O'Callaghan is a partner with Smith O'Callaghan White. She has more than 30 years of experience in the practice of labor and employment law. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. O'Callaghan was in-house counsel for labor and employment matters with a Global 500 corporation and a partner with a prominent labor and employment law firm in Chicago. Ms. O'Callaghan was inducted as a distinguished Fellow in the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers in 1998, a recognition reserved for the most experienced and prominent labor and employment attorneys in the United States, and was selected as an Illinois Super Lawyer in 2005-2015.
Ms. O'Callaghan was named one of the top 50 women lawyers in Illinois for 2010 and 2012 by Super Lawyers magazine. In addition, she has been recognized by her peers as a Leading Lawyer in the category of Employment Law: Management. Ms. O'Callaghan holds the AV Preeminet Peer Review Rating, Martindale-Hubbell's highest rating for ethics and legal ability.
Ms. O'Callaghan counsels employers concerning all aspects of employment law, including the ADA, the FMLA, workplace harassment, reductions-in-force, plant closings, compliance with the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act and the Worker Adjustment Retraining and Notification Act, EEO and diversity training, wage and hour compliance, internal discrimination and harassment investigations, and administrative agency investigations and proceedings. She is one of the country's most experienced practitioners in the area of affirmative action; she has prepared and successfully defended affirmative action plans in the public and private sectors for 30 years. Ms. O'Callaghan also maintains an extensive practice in the traditional labor law area. She has assisted clients in more than 200 NLRB representation elections, achieving a success rate in excess of 98 percent. She works with employers to deal with day-to-day human resources decisions and provides counsel to ensure compliance with all state and federal labor and employment laws.
College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. Member: American Bar Association (Member: Section of Labor and Employment Law; Equal Employment Opportunity Law Committee; Employee Rights and Responsibilities Committee; International Labor Law Committee).
