Brian Easley has more than 25 years of experience representing employers in complex labor and employment matters, with a focus on labor management relations. Brian has represented employers in the manufacturing, oil and gas, energy, mining, automotive, aerospace, railroad, transportation, private equity, media, retail, telecommunications, technology, hospitality, financial services, health care, and construction industries. Brian has successfully negotiated collective bargaining agreements on behalf of clients throughout the United States and has represented clients in connection with strike contingency planning and strike response, union organizing and decertification proceedings, unfair labor practice litigation, arbitration proceedings, and labor litigation.
Brian also advises employers on the labor and employment issues that arise in mergers and acquisitions and bankruptcy proceedings. He has advised corporate and private equity clients on hundreds of mergers and acquisitions — including multihundred million and multibillion dollar transactions — and he advised the City of Detroit through bankruptcy proceedings and restructuring efforts. Brian also maintains an active pro bono practice, having represented organizations such as the Grant Park Orchestral Association and the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra in collective bargaining negotiations. Brian is an active member of the American Bar Association Committee on Practice and Procedure under the National Labor Relations Board.
Brian is a frequent speaker on labor and employment topics. He is a contributing author to the PLI Labor Management Law Answer Book 2012-2019 as well as to the labor law treatises The Developing Labor Law and How to Take a Case Before the NLRB.
- University of Michigan (J.D. 1990); University of Dallas (B.A. with honors 1987)
- Minnesota, Texas, and Illinois
The Legal 500 US: Labor-Management Relations (leading lawyer, 2017-2024; recommended, 2013-2024) and Workplace and Employment Counselling (recommended, 2018-2020)
The Best Lawyers in America (2013-2025)
Illinois Super Lawyers (2009-2021)
Fellow, College of Labor and Employment Lawyers
Board Certified, Labor and Employment Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization