Mushlitz, Douglas L.

Michael M. Mulder has been a partner with Meites Mulder since 1986. 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 over fifty appeals and argued before the United States Supreme Court. He is particularly experienced in handling large, complex class actions and multi-plaintiff lawsuits in federal court, including cases involving employment discrimination, pension, and employee benefits. He also has trial experience in securities fraud cases.

He served as co-lead counsel in Neil v. Zell, N.D. Ill., No. 1:08-cv-06833, on behalf of a class of participants in the Tribune Employee Stock Ownership Plan. That case alleged that defendants breached their fiduciary duty to the class and engaged in prohibited transactions. The case was recently resolved in March 2012 through a $32 million settlement. He also served as co-lead counsel in litigation against McDonnell-Douglas, in which he established liability and a settlement of $44 million on behalf of a class of 1,100 former employees in a trial that was one of the few successful ERISA plant closing cases in recent years. Prior to that, he served as lead counsel in the Sears Retiree Life Insurance Litigation, which resulted in a multimillion dollar settlement for a class of over 80,000 former Sears executives and employees. He has also negotiated dozens of severance packages for executives and employees of Fortune 500 companies. Additionally, he provides counsel to individuals in all kinds of employment-related matters, including the negotiation of employment contracts and non-compete agreements.