Margot Klein is of counsel with Ogletree Deakins, where she focuses her practice on complex employment litigation, workplace investigations, and matters of diversity, equity, and inclusion. She is a trusted advocate and advisor who uses comprehensive legal analysis and sound business judgment to serve clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to small non-profits, obtaining successful results in numerous federal and state courts and alternative dispute resolution forums. Margot’s employment litigation experience includes matters of unfair competition (including restrictive covenants), trade secrets, fiduciary duties, tortious interference, contract, data privacy, discrimination, retaliation, wage and hour, and accommodations. She also routinely designs and leads diversity, equity, and inclusion seminars and other learning programs.
Margot’s practice is informed by the breadth of her experience and her uniquely extensive federal court expertise. She previously litigated with an Am Law 100 firm, and an alternative fees litigation boutique where she handled complex commercial and employment disputes and matters of federal civil rights. In addition, she has clerked for some of the toughest and most beloved judges in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, including a Chief Judge, a District Judge, and several Magistrate Judges. Margot also served as the inaugural staff attorney for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois William J. Hibbler Memorial Pro Se Assistance Program, a groundbreaking federal court legal assistance program.
Margot serves on the faculty of the National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA), as Secretary of the Seventh Circuit Bar Association, and as founder and General Chair of its Diversity and Inclusion Committee. She also serves as Secretary and Treasurer of the Northern District of Illinois Court Historical Association, Director of the Women Everywhere: Partners in Service Project, Inc., and Advisory Board Member of the Chicago Bar Foundation’s Justice Entrepreneurs Project.
Margot earned her undergraduate degree from Northwestern University, and her Juris Doctor cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School.
