Bio
Brenna Woodley is a skilled litigator and counselor who takes a holistic approach to her client’s labor and employment matters and other class action matters.
As a litigator, Brenna represents employers of all sizes across a broad range of industries, including aerospace, oil and gas, transportation, manufacturing, health care, insurance, and financial services. She regularly litigates both individual plaintiff and class and collective action cases, defending employers in complex litigation involving discrimination and harassment allegations, wage and hour and pay equity issues, disputes over trade secrets, breaches of restrictive covenants and other intellectual property issues, ERISA litigation, unfair labor practice charges, and other employment-related action disputes.
Outside the courtroom, Brenna provides day-to-day employment counseling for clients regarding compliance with state and federal employment laws, developing best practices, union-management relations, and other labor and employment matters. She also regularly conducts workplace investigations involving sexual harassment, discrimination, whistleblower claims, and other employment claims.
Brenna also devotes time to proactive activities for clients, including training managers and developing policies. She has trained managers from the front lines to the C-Suite on compliance issues and other workplace trends, including promoting a healthy work environment.
In addition to her years of experience counseling employers and litigating the full spectrum of labor and employment matters before federal and state courts and in arbitrations and administrative proceedings before government agencies, Brenna also has extensive experience in the nonprofit sector. She has worked in direct services as a social worker and served on boards of directors and in other leadership roles within nonprofit organizations, helping organizations to set and achieve their strategic goals. Her experience in the areas of strategic planning and talent development informs her approach to client service in the legal profession.
Brenna regularly participates in initiatives aimed at supporting women and other diverse lawyers in the profession. In her free time, you can find Brenna, who founded her own charity and serves on several charitable boards, doing volunteer work or out for a run along the lakefront.
Experience
Representative Engagements
- Brenna regularly serves as outside counsel leading company investigations, including investigations of discrimination, harassment, and other employment and whistleblower complaints before state and federal government agencies, including the Securities Exchange Commission, U.S. Department of Labor, and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
- Brenna has extensive experience litigating class and other multiple-plaintiff cases involving discrimination and harassment claims for employers, including in cases involving claims by multiple employees within an organization and highly publicized cases. Brenna also has successfully defended employers in multi-case and other complex litigation involving allegations of sexual assault in the workplace.
- Brenna’s labor relations experience includes collective bargaining, arbitrations, handling unfair labor practice charges, counseling employers regarding bargaining agreement provisions, and responding to union organizing campaigns and elections targeting large manufacturers.
- Brenna successfully defeated a motion for conditional certification of a putative collective action against a manufacturing company alleging unpaid overtime in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and state wage and hour laws, a victory that resulted in an early settlement on favorable terms for the client.
- Brenna has represented plan administrators in ERISA litigation, including in high profile company stock class actions.
- Brenna also has extensive experience litigating breach of restrictive covenant and trade secret misappropriation cases, including defending an employer in an employee raiding case involving 90 employees hired from a competitor in the industry, and reaching a resolution on terms favorable to the client.
Credentials
Education
University of Wisconsin, J.D., 1997
Senior Managing Editor, Wisconsin Law Review
Vice President, Student Bar Association
University of Wisconsin, B.A. Social Work 1992, Phi Kappa Phi
Bar Admissions
Illinois
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
Professional Memberships
American Bar Association
Labor & Employment Law Section
Chicago Bar Association
Women in Law Empowerment Forum
Committee Member (2019-present)
OnRamp Fellowship (2015-2016)
Honors & Awards
The Best Lawyers in America, Best Lawyers® (Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law, 2025)
2022 Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch (Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law, Labor and Employment Law-Management, and Litigation-Labor and Employment), Best Lawyers®
Publications & Presentations
“D&I Initiatives,” (co-presenter) GC Cannabis Forum (January 21, 2022)
“Trade Secret Remedies and the Inevitable Disclosure Doctrine,” (co-author) Chapter 14, Intellectual Property Law 2021 Edition, Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education (IICLE) (April 20, 2021)
“COVID-19: Employment law update and guidance for employers,” (co-author) Benefits Pro (April 16, 2020)
“Sexual Harassment and Workplace Culture,” (presenter) Association of Legal Administrators, Chicago Chapter (March 20, 2018)
Community Service
Chairman of the Board of Trustees (2024-present)
Past Foundation Board (2016-2022)
Past Chairman and Trustee of the Board of Trustees (2007-2017, 2022-present)
Bundle of Joy Diaper Bank
Founder and Executive Director (2010-2018)
Chicagoland Lutheran Education Foundation
Board of Directors (2011-2018)
First Immanuel Lutheran Church
Community Foundation Board Member (2010-2022)