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As lead counsel,
recovered millions of dollars for Home Health Care Clinicians misclassified as exempt from overtime under federal and state wage laws
James B. Zouras
Partner and FounderAn accomplished trial lawyer, Jim Zouras is a tireless advocate for
employees deprived of earned wages, and for victims of consumer fraud and negligence.
Jim has recovered tens of millions of dollars in damages in individual and class actions arising under federal wage and hour laws including the Fair Labor Standards Act and state wage laws, other complex litigation, and catastrophic personal injury actions involving wrongful death, motor vehicle crashes, products liability, premises liability and construction negligence. In addition, Jim has helped secure groundbreaking and precedent-setting court decisions in the areas of wage and hour law, consumer fraud and employee privacy.
Jim has been appointed lead or co-lead counsel on dozens of class actions throughout the United States. He has successfully tried over a dozen major jury trials and argued over 14 appeals as lead appellate counsel before federal and state appellate courts. Jim is also a member of the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Jim has received multiple awards and accolades throughout his career. In 2000, the Chicago Law Bulletin named Jim one of the “Top 40 Lawyers Under Age 40,” one of the youngest lawyers ever bestowed this honor. In addition, for each consecutive year since 2009, Chicago Magazine has recognized Jim as an Illinois Super Lawyer, a distinction given to no more than 5% of the lawyers in the state. Most recently, Jim was selected to the 2015 list of the “Nation’s Top One Percent” by the National Association of Distinguished Counsel. Jim’s peers also think highly of his legal knowledge and capabilities. They have rated him the highest level of professional excellence, 5.0 stars on Martindale-Hubbell, the gold standard in attorney ratings. Jim also has a 10/10 Superb rating from , an online legal services marketplace.
Awards
Jim and his cases have been profiled by numerous media outlets including the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times, Billboard Magazine and TMZ. Jim was also interviewed by CBS Consumer Watch. Jim is frequently invited as a speaker at national class action litigation seminars.
Professional and
Community Activities
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Invited speaker at the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association
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Contributing Author, American Bar Association Federal Labor Standards Legislation Subcommittee, Midwinter Report
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Invited speaker at the Chicago Bar Association,
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Invited speaker at the Practicing Law Institute
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Invited speaker at the Bridgeport Continuing Education Wage & Hour Seminar,
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Chicago Food Pantry Volunteer
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Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago Volunteer
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Illinois Trial Lawyers Association
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Illinois State Bar Association
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National Employment Lawyers Association
Education
DePaul University College of Law, J.D., with honor, Order of the Coif, 1995
University of Illinois Chicago, Political Science, with distinction, 1992
Admitted to Practice:
Illinois, 1995
United States Supreme Court, 2017
United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, 1996 (admitted to Trial Bar)
Admitted pro hac vice in the Central District of Illinois, the District of New Jersey, the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the District of Maryland, the Southern District of Ohio, the Northern, Middle and Southern Districts of Florida, the District of Massachusetts, the Western District of Washington, the District of Minnesota, the Southern and Northern Districts of Iowa, the Eastern and Middle Districts of Pennsylvania, the Western District of North Carolina, the Superior Court for the State of California, the Northern District of Texas, the Eastern District of Missouri and the Eastern District of Michigan.