Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner

Employment and Labor

Partner - Litigation and Investigations

William (Bill) Wortel is the former leader of the firm's Global Employment & Labor Practice Group and the current co-leader of the firm’s Non-Compete, Trade Secret and Employee Unfair Competition Team. He has over 25 years of experience litigating complex cases in a variety of litigation in federal and state courts and in the U.S. Courts of Appeals. His lead counsel experience includes high-stakes non-competition and trade secret litigation, defense of wage and hour class actions, and defense of actions alleging violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Reconstruction Act of 1866, the Labor Management Relations Act, ERISA, and the Illinois Human Rights Act. He has also defended employers against claims of retaliatory discharge, breach of contract, defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, fraud, negligent retention, negligent supervision, public disclosure of private facts, and intrusion upon the seclusion of another.

Bill has extensive experience drafting and negotiating executive employment agreements, drafting restrictive covenant agreements for use throughout the United States, and negotiating the resolution of sensitive disputes between employers and their C-suite executives.

Bill oversees and conducts a wide range of workplace investigations, often involving sensitive subject matters and high-level executives. In addition, Bill assists employers in avoiding litigation through the development, implementation, and application of harassment, drug testing, and other personnel policies and employee handbooks.

Bill has been repeatedly ranked by Chambers USA as one of the top employment attorneys in Illinois for over a decade. Clients surveyed by Chambers USA have commented that Bill “has very good business acumen and makes very practical recommendations in a very clear way,” and that he “offers thoughtful, business-forward solutions to complicated problems..." Bill also has been ranked by Illinois Super Lawyers for many years and has been named to its list of the Top 100 Lawyers in Illinois across all practice areas.

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS Chicago Bar Association Illinois Bar Association American Bar Association