Clifford R. Perry III

Cliff joined Laner Muchin as an associate in October 1993 and has been a partner at the Firm since 1999.  He is an experienced, go-to litigator and represents employers in state and federal courts and before administrative agencies throughout the United States.  Cliff represents employers in all areas of employment law in high stakes class actions, multiple plaintiff and single plaintiff cases, and in EEOC pattern and practice class claims.  He represents both private and public sector clients, and he has periodically acted as a Special Assistant Attorney General for the State of Illinois.  Cliff’s clients represent a broad cross section of industry, including the banking, financial, transportation, manufacturing, distribution, technology, sports, entertainment and restaurant/hospitality industries.

Outside of his practice, Cliff is an Executive Producer of “Becoming Bulletproof,” a documentary featured on Showtime, which follows the making of a Western costume drama featuring a diverse group of disabled people from across the United States, and which won seven film festival awards.  Cliff is also a former Board member of Special Gifts Theatre, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to serving severely disabled children and young adults by providing them with an opportunity to perform in a live play or musical.

HONORS, MEMBERSHIPS AND PUBLICATIONS

• Selected to the Illinois Super Lawyer list by his peers every year since 2006, recognizing him to be in the top 5% of the attorneys practicing in the State of Illinois
• Selected by his peers, repeatedly, as a Leading Lawyer
• Received the highest possible peer-review rating of “AV” from Martindale-Hubbell, the leading attorneys’ directory in the United States
• While attending law school, Cliff served on the Editorial Board of the Washington University Law Review
• Current or former member of the Federal Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association and the Chicago Bar Association
• Author, State Administrative Preclusion In ADEA Federal Court Suits – Answering Elliot’s Call, 67 Wash. U. L. Q. 1131 (1989)
• Board of Directors, Better Business Bureau of Chicago and Northern Illinois, 2018
• Selected as the 2018 Animal Welfare Leadership Award Recipient, PAWS Chicago

Below are representative samples of the types of matters Cliff handles on behalf of Laner Muchin clients:

Defending employers in Biometric Information Privacy Act class actions.

Defending employers in wage and hour matters, including class and collective actions.

Defending employers in breach of employment contract actions.

Representing employers in breach of non-compete agreement and non-solicitation actions (as both plaintiff and defendant).

Defending employers in defamation, interference with economic advantage, and infliction of emotional distress actions (and other, similar, employment torts).

Defending employers in employment discrimination, disability, retaliation, wrongful termination and harassment actions.

Defending landlords in fair housing actions.

Defending employers in statutory and common law whistleblower claims.

Defending employers and trustees in ERISA fiduciary claims.

Regularly counseling employers on all of these issues and advising on employee handbooks and policies, background checks, discipline and discharge matters, and lawsuit prevention and avoidance.