Attorney Biographies

Michael M. Mulder has been a partner or associate with Meites, Mulder, Mollica & Glink since 1982. His practice is focused on complex federal and state court litigation. Over the years, he has conducted jury and bench trials in federal courts nationwide. He has also litigated dozens of appeals and argued before the United States Supreme Court. He is particularly experienced in handling large, complex class actions and multi-plaintiff lawsuits, including employment discrimination, pension, and employee benefits cases. In recent years, he has served as lead counsel in the Sears Retiree Life Insurance Litigation, which involved a class of over 80,000 former Sears executives and employees. He continues to serve as co-lead counsel in litigation against McDonnell-Douglas, in which he established liability on behalf of a class of 1,100 former employees in a trial that was one of the few successful ERISA plant closing cases tried in recent years. He has also negotiated dozens of severance packages for highly-placed executives at Fortune 500 companies.

Areas of Practice

• Class Actions
• Employment Discrimination
• Pension and Benefits
• ERISA
• Federal Practice
• Complex Litigation

Litigation Percentage

• 100% of Practice Devoted to Litigation

Bar Admissions

• Illinois, 1975
• U.S. District Court Central District of Illinois, 1975
• U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois Trial Bar, 1982
• U.S. Court of Appeals 7th Circuit, 1978
• U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals 8th Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals 10th Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit
• U.S. Supreme Court, 1979

Education

• Valparaiso University School of Law, Valparaiso, Indiana, 1975
  J.D.
  
  
• Western Michigan University, 1972
  B.A.
  Honors: Honors Political Science
  
  

Classes/Seminars Taught

• Adjunct Professor of Law, The John Marshall Law School, Appellate Practice Clinic, 1978 - 1980
• Adjunct Professor of Law, Valparaiso University School of Law, Federal Court Clinical Program, 1980 - 1982

Professional Associations and Memberships

• Illinois Bar Association, Young Lawyers Section, 1977 - 1980
  Member, Committee on Juvenile Justice
  
  
• National Legal Aid and Defender Association, 1978 - 1981
  Member, Defender Amicus Brief Committee
  
  
• Chicago Council of Lawyers, 1986 - Present
  Member
  
  
• Illinois State Bar Association, 1988 - Present
  Member
  
  
• National Employment Lawyers Association, 1990 - Present
  Member
  
  
• American Bar Association, Section of Labor and Employment, 1996 - Present
  Member
  
  

Past Employment Positions

• Illinois State Appellate Defender, Assistant Defender, 1975 - 1980
• Legal Director, Project Justice and Equality, 1980 - 1982
• Meites & Frackman, Associate, 1982 - 1986

Birth Information

• December 17, 1949, Watertown, New York