Lori L. Deem

LORI L. DEEM, a Partner with Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd., is an experienced employment law attorney who has developed a highly regarded reputation as a strong advocate, strategic counselor and pragmatic problem-solver for her clients.

During her 20+ years as an employment attorney, Ms. Deem has represented executives and individuals in a wide variety of employment matters, including severance and employment agreement negotiations, employment discrimination claims and retaliatory discharge cases. Her practice includes handling all types of discrimination and harassment, including individuals who have been subjected to age, race, gender, disability, national origin, pregnancy and sexual orientation discrimination. Ms. Deem regularly represents clients in all types of employment law forums, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Illinois Department of Human Rights, arbitration, mediation and in federal and state court.

Ms. Deem has extensive experience representing C-Suite and senior executives in job transition and change-of-control situations with drafting and negotiating severance and employment agreements, as well as non-competition agreements, and other related executive matters such as shareholder and partnership agreements. She advises executive clients on equity and compensation issues involving long-term and short-term incentive plans, stock options, restricted stock unit agreements and other equity arrangements.

Ms. Deem currently serves as the Employee Co-Chair of the Women's Affinity Group of the American Bar Association Labor & Employment Law Section. She is a past Employee Co-Chair and member of the Employment Rights and Responsibilities Committee (ERR) of the American Bar Association Labor & Employment Law Section. Ms. Deem is a member of the National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA), the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA), and the Chicago Bar Association (CBA).

Since 2012, Ms. Deem has been recognized each year as a top employment attorney by Illinois Super Lawyers and Leading Lawyers, and Lawdragon has recognized her as one of the Top 500 Plaintiff's Employment Lawyers in the U.S. (2018-2021). Only the top 5% of lawyers in Illinois are selected as Super Lawyers, using a multi-step evaluation process involving a statewide survey of lawyers, independent panel research and in-depth evaluation of background and experience by practice area. Ms. Deem also is a frequent presenter and speaker on employment law topics.