CHANGE MAKERS RENU THAMMAN

Renu graduated from Northwestern University in 1993 and received her J.D. from the University of Illinois in 1997. She worked as an Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of Chicago Law Department’s Labor Division until 2006, leading a host of civil and administrative disciplinary actions and dismissals of city employees who violated policies or laws. Since then, she has been in private practice, working exclusively in the field of labor and employment law. Through her law firm Thamman Law Office, Renu represents individuals and small businesses with a wide range of employment problems including discrimination, wage, and contract claims. She enjoys helping people through challenging situations and offering practical and strategic advice to solve her clients’ problems.

When did you know you wanted a career in law? I started thinking about pursuing law while studying at Northwestern University. During my junior year, I trained to be a rape crisis counselor and learned about client advocacy. I began to realize how much I enjoyed using my verbal and writing skills to help others.

Tell us about your work. What is your area of expertise?

My primary focus is on employment law and litigation. I represent individuals and small businesses who need help navigating the intricate body of state and federal laws and regulations which govern employment practices.

Most of my work is on behalf of individuals. I help them to negotiate pre- and post-employment contracts, including noncompete and severance agreements. If they suffered sex, race, disability, national origin, sexual orientation, pregnancy, or age discrimination, I advise and represent them in civil litigation and administrative hearings. If they were not paid in accordance with state and federal wage laws (including equal pay, minimum wage, and overtime), I help them to recover what they are owed. I also provide general legal advice that is ancillary to their employment concerns. Additionally, I help small businesses draft employment contracts, non-compete agreements, and employee handbooks, and sometimes defend them from their employees’ civil complaints.

What areas of opportunity in the industry excite you the most? What are you most passionate about right now?

It’s hard to narrow down the list, but in recent years I’ve been getting more involved in committee work. I joined the Illinois National Employment Law Association’s Legislative Committee and helped to pass an important amendment restricting non- compete and non-solicitation agreements in Illinois. Today, I’m actively using this new law in my practice to benefit my clients.

I also work on an unemployment legislative committee. Our group discusses the challenges of implementing unemployment law, shares practice tips, and advocates for changes to problematic areas of the statute. This group is very dedicated because there aren’t a lot of lawyers doing unemployment work, partly because it is a difficult and antiquated process in Illinois. Yet during the pandemic, access to unemployment benefits was such an important lifeline for many people that I felt compelled to take on more of these cases to help people get the benefits they needed to survive. I think it is imperative for lawyers to help others with their expertise and through these committees and other pro bono work I do, I feel I am fulfilling that duty.

What is your biggest career challenge you have faced, and what did you learn from it? In my early 30s, I had two baby boys, and we decided to move from Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood to a nearby suburb. I took some time off from the law, and it was the hardest year of my life! It made me realize I missed my career, so I decided to transition into private practice. Initially, I partnered with a colleague from the City of Chicago’s Law Department, and then in 2013, I opened my own firm. This meant that for the first time, I was not only responsible for substantive lawyering but also for practice administration and business development. It was a tremendous learning experience.

What is your proudest accomplishment? My proudest accomplishment is being able to raise my family while growing my business. Work-life balance is difficult to achieve in any career, especially in law. Becoming a solo practitioner was the best way for me to work from home in a way I could control while simultaneously raising my boys. My goal was to get busier as they grew up and now that one is a freshman in college and the other is a junior in high school, I have been able to do just that. I am proud that I was able to create the work-life balance my family needed and now that my kids are independent, I can freely focus more time on my career.

In what ways did MKA prepare you for the path your life has taken? MKA afforded me fabulous teachers, innovative classes, and an environment where students wanted to excel. I gained my passion for reading and writing at MKA through some wonderful teachers like Mr. Bullard and Ms. Moore, and those skills are essential for any good lawyer. I still remember taking humanities with the two of them as a freshman, and it was a whole new approach to an English class. We examined apartheid in Africa and went on field trips to Patterson, NJ. to take photos which were then accompanied by haiku.

I also learned a lot from pursuing Mastersingers, a selective choir group I was too scared to audition for as a freshman and sophomore, auditioned for unsuccessfully as a junior, and then made it as a senior. That challenge taught me perseverance (which was encouraged by the wonderful Mr. Bicknell), and Mastersingers remains one of my all-time favorite experiences.