Stevens, David Erik

David E. Stevens is an attorney with Werman Law Office, P.C. in Chicago, Illinois. His practice is dedicated to labor and employment law matters. Although Dave represents workers in all kinds of workplace disputes, including ERISA claims, claims for sexual harassment, pregnancy discrimination, FMLA violations, wrongful termination, and retaliation, a special focus of his practice is the recovery of owed minimum wages, overtime pay and other owed compensation under various federal and state wage and hour laws.

Dave has been counsel in and has successfully resolved over 100 employment lawsuits litigated in courts and administrative agencies throughout the United States. The overwhelming majority of the cases Dave litigates are multiple-plaintiff or mass-action lawsuits that proceed as either collective actions or class actions under state and/or federal law. Dave has been counsel of record in cases that have recovered tens of millions of dollars for workers throughout Illinois and across the United States – including a class action lawsuit that is regarded as the largest wage and hour class action in Illinois history.

Dave is a tireless and creative advocate for the rights of low wage and immigrant workers. His work on behalf of such workers resulted in a well known and important decision from a United States District Court in Villareal v. El Chile, No. 07 C 1656, which affirmed that undocumented workers are protected by state and federal wage and hour laws and entitled to minimum wages and overtime pay.

Dave graduated from Chicago-Kent College of Law in 2008. During law school, he worked for the Cook County States’ Attorney, special litigation division, and was a team member and coach for Chicago-Kent’s Labor and Employment trial team. Dave repeatedly demonstrated outstanding academic success in law school. Dave received the CALI Award for Excellence, awarded to the highest scoring student in the class, four times while in law school for his success in the following courses: Labor Law, Employment Relationships, Trial Advocacy, and Labor and Employment Practicum. Dave served as a student editor for the Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal, and earned Chicago-Kent’s Certificate in Labor and Employment Law upon graduation.