Poonam K. Lakhani

Partner

Ms. Lakhani is a partner with The Prinz Law Firm. She represents both individual employees and employers, from small businesses to mid-sized multi-state entities, and as a result possesses a comprehensive understanding of a variety of employment issues. Ms. Lakhani is skilled in handling workplace discrimination, harassment, and retaliation claims, as well as wage and hour matters. She also has extensive experience representing physicians and negotiating physician employment agreements.

Ms. Lakhani regularly counsels employers on employment policies and best practices, and she represents business clients in set-up and incorporation, contract negotiations, and other commercial matters. In all her work, she is focused on developing creative and cost-effective solutions for her clients.

Practice Areas

Ms. Lakhani is a zealous advocate for her clients. She has obtained a multi-million-dollar jury verdict, and regularly represents her clients in state and federal court, before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Illinois Department of Human Rights, the Illinois Department of Labor, the Cook County Commission on Human Rights, and other administrative bodies.

Ms. Lakhani is experienced in a wide variety of matters, including:

Physician employment contracts
Executive employment contracts
Retaliation
ADA failure to accommodate
FMLA violations
Retaliatory discharge
Whistleblowing
Minimum wage and overtime violations
Unpaid compensation
Labor trafficking
Discrimination (including race, gender, national origin, sexual orientation religion, disability, and pregnancy discrimination)

Ms. Lakhani also regularly negotiates and drafts employment agreements, non-compete and non-solicit agreements, and severance agreements.

Ms. Lakhani is a pragmatic counselor who provides sound advice and guidance to business clients in order to help them avoid litigation, ensure compliance, and build a better work environment. She regularly counsels her clients on personnel matters, hiring and firing of employees, ADA and FMLA leave matters, and drafting employment agreements and handbooks.

Ms. Lakhani understands the practical business impact of her advice. She also advises her clients on numerous general business matters, including commercial leases, set-up and incorporation, contract negotiations, and other commercial matters.

Ms. Lakhani is widely recognized as an industry expert. She has given numerous interviews and statements to media outlets, such as National Public Radio (NPR), Fox News Chicago, Crains Chicago Business, and Mother Jones.

Dedicated to Service

Throughout her career, Ms. Lakhani has dedicated much of her free time to public service. In recognition of her work on a labor trafficking case, Ms. Lakhani was nominated by Magistrate Judge Cummings for the Northern District of Illinois Excellence in Pro Bono and Public Interest Service Award, which she received in 2023. She is a member of the South-Asian Bar Association of Chicago (SABA Chicago), for which she previously served as community chair. She also served as a Trustee on the South-Asian Bar Association Foundation. She assisted many income-eligible individuals with various legal matters though the Cyriac Kappil Pro Bono Legal Clinic. Ms. Lakhani also volunteered with the Southern Poverty Law Center to help victims of labor trafficking.

Ms. Lakhani has been named a Super Lawyers Rising Star every year since 2016.

Ms. Lakhani is fluent in Hindi and Sindhi.

Education

J.D., DePaul University College of Law
- Symposium Editor, Journal of Women, Gender and the Law
- Top 10 Best Brief, Philip C. Jessup Regional Moot Court Competition
- Recipient, DePaul Law Merit Scholarship
- Recipient, Asian Pacific American Law Students Association Scholarship
B.A. Economics, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Professional and Bar Association Memberships

Illinois State Bar Association
South-Asian Bar Association
DuPage County Bar Association
National Employment Lawyers Association

Recognitions

Recipient of the Northern District of Illinois Excellence in Pro Bono and Public Interest Service Award, 2023.

Speaking Associations, Media Appearances, and Publications

“The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act: How it Protects Labor Trafficking Victims,” a presentation on the intersection of employment and immigration law sponsored by the South Asian Bar Association of Chicago (SABA) (Dec 2022).
Speaker at the 9th Annual Minority Bar CLE Conference, "Post-COVID: Will We Ever Be the Same?" (Oct 2021).
Interviewed by Crain’s for “You Don’t Want to Be Known as the Place People Got Sick,” an article on workplace vaccination requirements (Sept 2021).
Interviewed by Mother Jones for their article, “Inside the Private Facebook Groups Where Anti-Vaxxers Plot to Get Religious Exemptions” (Sept 2021).
Served as a guest on WBEZ's Reset regarding COVID exemptions (Aug 2021).
Highlighted in “Workers Will Claim Religious Exemptions on Vaccines. What Then?” a Crain's article on COVID religious exemptions (Aug 2021).
Appeared on FOX 32 Chicago regarding COVID vaccines (Aug 2021).
Panelist for "Tech Companies: Equal Opportunity Policies vs. Realities," part of the "Tech and Social Justice Speaker Series" hosted by Illinois Institute of Technology's Office of Community Affairs (May 2021).
Guest on Anjali Jariwala's podcast Money Checkup regarding contract review for physicians (Apr 2021).
Panelist for a CLE on "Balancing Privacy and Public Health in a Post-COVID Era," an event sponsored by the South Asian Bar Association (SABA) of Chicago (April 2021).
"Life after the Curve: Navigating Law Practice in the Era of COVID-19," a forum sponsored by the South Asian Bar Association of Chicago (SABA) (2020).
"Employment Agreements: IP Rights, Confidentiality, and Non-Competes," workshop for Innovation DuPage (2019).
"Hiring Employees and Interns: A Discussion on Employment Law," workshop for Innovation DuPage (2019).
"How to Be an Asset to Your Firm," YLD News, Illinois State Bar Association, available here (2015).