Steven J. Pearlman is a partner in the Labor & Employment Law Department and co-head of the Whistleblowing & Retaliation Group. Steven’s practice covers the full spectrum of employment law. He has successfully tried cases in multiple jurisdictions and defended what is reported to be the largest Illinois-only class action in the history of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Reporting to boards of directors and their audit committees, he routinely conducts sensitive investigations arising from myriad types of whistleblower complaints and has testified in defense of investigations in federal court.

Chambers describes Steven as an “outstanding lawyer” who is “very sharp and very responsive.” Steven was 1 of 12 individuals selected by Compliance Week as a "Top Mind."  Earlier in his career, he was 1 of 5 U.S. lawyers selected by Law360 as a "Rising Star Under 40" in the area of employment law and 1 of "40 Illinois Attorneys Under Forty to Watch" selected by Law Bulletin Publishing Company. Steven is a Burton Award Winner (U.S. Library of Congress) for "Distinguished Legal Writing." He was elected as a Fellow to the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers.

Steven has served on Law360’s Employment Editorial Advisory Board, is a member of Compliance Week’s Advisory Board, and is a Contributor to Forbes.com. He has appeared on Bloomberg News (television and radio) and Yahoo! Finance and is regularly quoted in leading publications such as The Wall Street Journal.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has engaged Steven to serve as lead counsel on amicus briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court and federal circuit courts. He was appointed to serve as a Special Assistant Attorney General for the State of Illinois in employment litigation matters. He has presented with the Solicitor of the DOL, the Acting Chair of the EEOC, an EEOC Commissioner, and heads of government whistleblower programs (SEC, CFTC, and OSHA).

In addition, the RAND Corporation, one of the world’s leading think-tanks, selected Steven to speak at an exclusive symposium comprised of some of the most influential thought leaders and policy makers, including top officials at the SEC, on whistleblower laws and related policy issues on the eve of the issuance of the regulations to the Dodd-Frank whistleblower provisions.