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Christopher Wilmes

Professional Details

Practice Areas

Education

Northwestern University School of Law (J.D. 2005)
- cum laude
- Order of the Coif (2005)
- Note Comment & Development Editor, Northwestern Law Review
University of Notre Dame (B.A. 2000)
- cum laude

Judicial Clerkships

Clerkship with the Honorable Joel Flaum of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals (2006-2007)
Clerkship with the Honorable Matthew Kennelly of the Northern District of Illinois (2005-2006)

Admissions

Bar Admissions

Illinois (2005)

Court Admissions

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois

Professional Details

Christopher Wilmes

Christopher Wilmes is an associate with Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd. He represents clients in a wide variety of civil matters, with a focus on employment and civil rights cases. Mr. Wilmes joined the firm in 2009.

Prior to joining HSPRD, Mr. Wilmes worked at the Legal Assistance Foundation as a Skadden Public Interest Fellow representing clients with criminal-record-related legal issues.

Representative Matters

Joshaway v. First Student and Hunter v. First Transit. National class actions against the two subsidiaries of the largest public transportation provider in the United States, challenging the use of criminal background checks on employees and applicants in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The $5.9 million settlement (final approval pending) is the largest FCRA settlement resolving employment-related claims in U.S. history and requires corporate policies in full compliance with the law.

Lynch v. Huberman. Obtained a preliminary injunction order on behalf of several Chicago Public Schools teachers after a district court judge held that the Chicago Board of Education had violated their First Amendment rights to political speech. Read case details.

Represented plaintiff in a $625,000 Fair Credit Reporting Act class action settlement involving a national temporary employment agency.

Successfully represented individual who was denied public housing by the Chicago Housing Authority based on a record of dismissed criminal charges. Case was affirmed on appeal.

Represented dozens of individuals in Petitions for Rule to Show Cause brought against the Illinois State Police, where the Illinois State Police refused to comply with judges’ orders to expunge or seal criminal records. The Illinois State Police ultimately agreed to systemically reform its policies and comply with all expungement and sealing orders issued across the State.

Successfully represented three candidates for school board election whose petitions and statements of candidacy were challenged by an objector.

Memberships / Associations

Legal

Member, Illinois State Bar Association
Member, National Employers Lawyers Association

Civic / Community

Board of Directors, Amate House, a non-profit organization that allows recent college graduates to complete a year of volunteer service in Chicago-area schools and social service agencies

Speeches and Presentations

Criminal-Record-Related Barriers To Employment And Public Housing, CLE Presentation to Poverty Law Section of the State Bar of Texas (July 29, 2011).
The Brave New World of Consumer Protection Lawsuits & Enforcement, Panelist discussion at the National Employment Law Project Annual Conference (Apr. 2011).
Challenging the Use of Arrest Records and Credit Histories in Hiring, Panelist discussion at the Impact Fund's Annual Employment Discrimination Class Action Conference (Feb. 24-25, 2011).
Criminal-Record-Related Legal Issues, Address at the regular meeting of the Chicago Bar Association's Legal Aid Committee (Jan. 2009).
Criminal Records and Employment, Address at the regular meeting of the Chicago Bar Association's Labor and Employment Law Committee (Nov. 2008).

Related News

HSPRD attorney Christopher Wilmes was interviewed by NBC 5 reporter Lisa Parker about his lawsuit against a background check company that inexplicably and wrongly confused his client with three sex offenders (two of whom are incarcerated in another state). Read more.
Seventh Circuit affirms $29 million verdict in Federal Torts Claims Act medical malpractice case, which was defended on appeal by HSPRD attorneys Matthew Piers and Christopher Wilmes. The Government lawyers argued that the plaintiffs were entitled no recovery because they did not file their claim within the applicable statute of limitations. Read more.
HSPRD attorneys Christopher Wilmes and Mary Rowland, along with the Chicago Lawyers' Committee For Civil Rights Under Law, filed a class action complaint against background check company Infotrack Information Services, Inc. Read more.
HSPRD attorney Christopher Wilmes presented seminar entitled, "Criminal-Record-Related Barriers To Employment And Public Housing,” to the Poverty Law Section of the State Bar of Texas.
Federal court grants preliminary approval of class action settlement in case HSPRD brought on behalf of 150,000 transportation workers and job applicants. Read more.
HSPRD files class action lawsuit against Nevada onion grower on behalf of Mexican guestworkers alleging unlawful wage payment practices. Read more.
HSPRD persuades electoral board to reject challenges to the candidacies of Rita Oberman, Sheryl Black, and Michael John Bolz for positions on the Thornton Fractional Township High School District 215. Read more.
HSPRD obtains a preliminary injunction order on behalf of several Chicago Public Schools teachers after a district court judge held that the Chicago Board of Education had violated their First Amendment rights to political speech in Lynch v. Huberman.