Ethan G. Zelizer

After having been unjustly fired from a large Biotech company Ethan took me under his wing. He asked very good questions and was able to successfully fight for me against a multi-billion dollar company. His industry knowledge and tenacity helped award me a severance from a company that chose not to... do the right thing by an employee with an excellent track record. Ethan knows the industry from the inside out and fought for a severance and won. I am so grateful to him for his unwavering support and confidence to help close this chapter of my life. I would highly recommend hiring Ethan. He gets results and is worth every penny.

You need to read my review to understand how good this guy really is. I started at a company that I thought I would spend my career with. Things went south when we had a reorg and my growth potential suddenly shrunk. I found another great opportunity with a competitor -- but not directly competi...ng with products or customers that I previously worked with. I had a non-compete but it was executed so long ago and I wasn't even sure if it was enforceable. Don't those things expire? I signed it when I was hired in 2003. It's been 12+ years! Well, I received a nastygram from the General Counsel of my former company telling me that I needed to quit my new job and pay damages for the "trade secrets" that I had shared. Needless to say, I never shared any trade secrets and I wouldn't. The letter was intense and everybody I knew thought I was going to court. I contacted Ethan based on his reviews and he immediately dealt with something that I wasn't thinking of -- my current employer. He wanted to know everything I had told them, what they knew now and what the relationship was like. He really cared about making my current situation as safe as possible. He directed me on how to talk with my current employer and then made contact with my current employer's counsel so he could advise them on the strength of the noncompete and the chance at enforcement. The noncompete was overbroad in several ways and there was a fair chance that a court wouldn't enforce it. He then found some strong cases that suggested that a court shouldn't try to rewrite the contract if it is overbroad and that taking a noncompete like this to court could be sanctionable. He came up with a game plan and we all signed on. Ethan wrote the opposing attorney with a strong response and a threat to seek sanctions if they tried to enforce an unenforceable contract. More importantly, he spent a good amount of time addressing the facts -- that I was not in a competitive role and that I was not contacting former clients. After two rounds of letters, he insisted on a face-to-face with them so that we could have a candid, BS-free conversation about what I was doing at Company B and why I had not violated my non-compete -- even if it was enforceable. The face-to-face was the key. We looked each other in the eye and just talked it out. I wish everybody did this before filing a freaking lawsuit. Thanks to Ethan, we walked away from the situation amicably with no hard feelings. In fact, and I can't believe that this happened, but my old company HIRED Ethan to redraft their non-competes so that they could be enforced in the future. That seriously happened. That is how well-regarded he is and how well his overtures are received. He hits all the right notes. He is lawyerly when needed and uses common-sense and straightforwardness when appropriate. He's a wizard. Most of all, Ethan never saw me as a cash grab. He could of turned this into a contentious situation and I would have paid him to defend me. However, he saw an opportunity to negotiate and talk thru the situation. It ended up earning him less in fees but far more in reputational value and my sheer admiration. To sum it up: I received a threat of nuclear litigation from my previous employer. Ethan took care of bringing my current employer into the fold, bringing the other side to the table for a no nonsense pow-wow, and after negotiating a walkaway, Ethan was HIRED by the Company that was suing me to rewrite their agreements so they could be enforced in the future. Talk about a win-win-win. If you can't beat him, buy him. You will not find a better attorney within this specialty. He might just be the best attorney I have ever encountered. I cannot wait to recommend him to friends and I am thrilled to sing his praises here. Thank you Ethan.

I am going to take a minute to review this attorney because he really impressed me. Allow me to explain the situation. I am 65 and I work for the state. My job was eliminated but there was also some acrimony regarding how I was treated these last few months so the state offered me a severance pack...age. It was 10 pages long, worth $12,000 and I couldn't understand a word of it. It scared me. There was language about my benefits and retirement plan and I couldn't make heads or tails of it. I looked for an attorney. I called two before Ethan and both of them wanted to set up a consultation for about $500 and then would quote me on an hourly rate. I was ready to do it because it seemed like I needed to spend to get the peace of mind. But that is a lot of money for me. I called Ethan next as my last of the three that I planned to talk to. I got his receptionist and he ended up calling me from his car on the way back from court about two hours later. He was returning his calls for the morning. He had more after me. I was surprised because he asked me a lot of questions. I explained that I didn't want to start the "clock" and that I just wanted to see what it would cost. However, he didn't want to start the clock either. He wanted to know the situation. He explained that whether it was a layoff, a termination or something else would help him understand what type of agreement they gave me. He then asked me to describe the sections that worried me. He then spent 30 minutes describing what the document was doing, what the sections that bothered me meant and concluded that the agreement was fairly standard. After explaining the sections that worried me, I felt so much better. I then offered to meet with him to pay him his consultation fee. He asked, "why?" "Do you still have issues with the agreement?" I explained that I felt good about the agreement and that he was tremendous for helping me. He then said that it was his pleasure to help me out and that he didn't feel the need to charge me because it was an unexpected situation in my life and that every penny probably matters right now. He suggested I pass on the good will in some other way to someone who may need it. This is an ATTORNEY telling me this. He told me to basically practice Karma. He then asked how many days I had to sign and offered to take a quick pass on the agreement if I emailed it to him for additional peace of mind. He coughed it up to a quick "pro bono" job. However, I didn't need it. He had already gone through the parts that worried me and explained them in a manner that was crystal clear. I am not reviewing Ethan so that the world may think he works for free. He doesn't. He represents executives and employees making much more money than me. I am a very small fish and not his usual client type. He just wanted to help because he had the time and opportunity. He made me feel like a client from the start. I've read his reviews -- every one of them. I am not sure if there is any other attorney out there as smart, kind, respectful and decent as Ethan Zelizer. I kind of wish that I had something to fight about so he could represent me. For all of you who need an employment attorney, stop now. Hire Ethan Zelizer. He is on the side of the angels.

Ethan is a special type of attorney -- caring, honest and willing to help you even if it means losing a contingency fee. He cares about what's best for you, not the money you represent. Don't get me wrong, Ethan charges for his consultations like all good attorneys do. Their time is very valuable. Th...e nice thing about ethan is if he can help you quickly and efficiently, he will. We met for an hour at his Chicago office. I'm having issues with my current employer and wanted to file a charge and lawsuit. Ethan talked me through the law and showed me that I needed to work with corporate HR and give them a chance to fix things. He helped draft an email to the HR department and then game planned how the next few weeks would likely go -- down to who would likely interview me and what I should be expected to say. He was right on everything and I was prepared and felt confident. At the end of the consult, Ethan had convinced me to wait on filing anything and to work with my employer. He offered his email, text and cell if I ran into any issues. He was happy to represent me if needed but he was hopeful that wouldn't be the case. He was right. Things are better. I needed somebody to help me through this and direct me. Ethan was the right man for the job. Honest and no nonsense. Several other attorneys were happy to charge me an hourly rate or sign me up on a retainer and contingency and make it confrontational from the start. In the end, Ethan knew that wasn't best for me and although it wasn't the most lucrative case for him (he only charged the consult fee -- that's it), he treated me like a client and gave me his full attention. I hope I don't need an employment attorney in the future -- but if I do -- it will be Ethan Zelizer that I hire. If only the rest of the attorneys out there were as fair and kind as him.

I'm a business owner. I've been dealing with a long and stressful ordeal that's escalated into a legal matter. I researched different options, but was so confused and stressed out about how to proceed. I contacted other attorneys, and while a couple of them were helpful, most didn't give me much ass...istance or guidance without first asking for exorbitant fees; many of them just completely blew me off. I contacted Ethan Zelizer's firm and had great, professional experiences with his staff. Ethan charged me a very reasonable fee to review some documents related to my case and then consult with me over the phone about everything. He took his time to understand what I was dealing with and thoughtfully laid out what my options were. He dealt with some sensitive aspects of my case with great empathy and professionalism, which made me feel very comfortable in discussing everything. He let me know what he thought the relative probability of success would be for the options he laid out based on similar cases he has seen; in this sense, I feel like he gave me very good strategic advice. And of course, he thoroughly answered all of the questions I had prepared. If you're dealing with a stressful legal matter, don't hesitate to consult with Ethan Zelizer. Life is too short and you want competent and caring advice to guide you through the tough times. Trust me, his reasonable fees are well worth it. I know that when you're going through difficulties, the last thing you want to do is to spend money, but it's worth it for the kind of experienced and strategic advice that you get from Ethan Zelizer. I feel much more confident with my circumstances now and I know that you will too.