Frederick L. Schwartz is a partner in the Chicago office of Barnes & Thornburg LLP. As a member of the firm’s Labor and Employment Law Department, Mr. Schwartz concentrates his practice on labor and management relations. Mr. Schwartz regularly handles proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board, including representation elections and unfair labor practice charges, as well as collective bargaining and arbitrations. On the other side of the coin, Mr. Schwartz regularly counsels employers that wish to maintain a union-free workplace, and is engaged to perform workplace audits and training for members of management. Mr. Schwartz also regularly advises and counsel employers on a variety of compliance and policy issues.

Representing employers, Mr. Schwartz frequently works with clients in the manufacturing, wholesale, retail, healthcare, construction, transportation and service provider industries. He has decades of experience negotiating collective bargaining agreements for employers seeking to address economic challenges, and has been engaged in a number of high-stakes negotiations for employers who needed to achieve substantial concessions in collective bargaining.

Along with union avoidance training, he concentrates on preventive steps that employers may take to avoid litigation with prospective, current, or former employees.

As a frequent speaker, Mr. Schwartz conducts management training sessions and offers compliance counseling.

In addition to being admitted to practice in the state of Illinois, Mr. Schwartz is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth, Sixth and Seventh Circuits, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Mr. Schwartz earned his B.S. from Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations and his J.D., cum laude, from the University of Minnesota Law School.