Douglas M. Werman
PARTNER
Tel: 312-419-1008
Toll Free: 877-419-1008
Fax: 312-419-1025
Email: dwerman@flsalaw.com
Douglas M. Werman is the founder and principal of Werman Salas P.C. in Chicago, Illinois. His practice is heavily concentrated in labor and employment litigation.
A nationally known and recognized trial lawyer, Doug has won or settled more than 700 individual, collective and class action lawsuits throughout the United States resulting in more than $400 million being paid to working people and their families. In a published decision, one federal court described Doug and Werman Salas P.C. as “national leaders in advocating the rights of working people in wage and hour litigation.” In another published decision, a different court called him a “highly respected and experienced lawyer.”
Experience and reputation matters. Doug has served as counsel of record in scores of ground breaking cases, including the successful appeal of Ervin v. OS Restaurant Serv., 09-3029 (7th Cir. Jan. 18, 2011), which confirmed the ability of employees to litigate, in the same lawsuit, Fair Labor Standards Act collective action claims together with state law class action claims for owed minimum wages and overtime pay. He is on the Board of Editors of the leading treatise on the Fair Labor Standards Act, entitled, “The Fair Labor Standards Act,” and is a recurring speaker at Chicago and American Bar Association events, the National Employment Lawyers Association, the Illinois Institute for Continuing Education, and other legal conferences. Doug was on the working committees that helped author the Illinois Day and Temporary Labor Services Act, the 2006 amendments to the Illinois Minimum Wage Law, and the 2011 “Wage Theft” amendments to the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act. Recently, Doug was one of ten lawyers in the United States, working in conjunction with Federal Judiciary Center, who drafted Mandatory Initial Discovery Protocols to be used by the United States federal courts in Fair Labor Standards Act cases. Doug is the proud recipient of the Thirteenth Annual Award for Excellence in Pro Bono Service awarded by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, in conjunction with the Chicago Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. In 2019, Doug was elected to the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers as a fellow.
Doug graduated from Loyola University of Chicago School of Law in 1990. After his graduation, he worked at national management side labor law firms until starting Werman Law Office P.C. in 2001, which became Werman Salas P.C. on January 1, 2014. As a defense lawyer, Doug represented a broad range of clients in many business areas including telecommunications, retail, transportation, waste management, insurance, warehousing, and construction. His work on behalf of employers included extensive experience performing human resource counseling and before the National Labor Relations Board, including unfair labor practice proceedings and union representation cases.