Michael D. Ray

Trial Experience

Mike has tried cases to defense verdicts in courts and forums across the country. Highlights of his trial results include:

• Served as trial counsel for a manufacturer in a multi-plaintiff action under the Fair Labor Standards Act. After Mike and his Ogletree colleagues obtained decertification of the 400+-member class, Mike and his trial team obtained a full defense verdict at trial on the remaining plaintiffs’ claims.
• Served as court-appointed trial counsel for an incarcerated inmate alleging violation of his Constitutional rights. In that case, Mike won a directed verdict on his client’s claims at the close of the evidence.
• Served as trial counsel for a large chemical company in state court injunction proceedings involving more than 1,000 picketers and demonstrators outside the company’s facility, and resulting in the judge issuing a restraining order in his client’s favor.
• Mike has often served as lead counsel for companies of all sizes in labor arbitration matters with successful results.

Class and Collective Actions

Mike regularly represents employers in class and collective actions under state and federal laws across the country.  Mike has represented employers in a myriad of different industries and has significant experience in high-stakes and “bet the company”-type litigation. He has defended clients faced with both statewide and nationwide class actions. Mike has defended clients across many different industries including manufacturing, retail, automotive, food services, temporary staffing and many others. Examples of his work include:

• On behalf of a transportation company, in a case of first impression under a state prevailing wage law, obtaining denial of class certification and then obtaining summary judgment on the individual claims in the case.
• On behalf of a large window manufacturer, obtaining summary judgment on named plaintiff’s claims in a case of first impression under a state independent contractor statute resulting in dismissal of the state-wide class action, and successfully defending that result before the Appellate Court, resulting in a published opinion.
• Defending multiple clients facing large class actions under the federal and state wage and hour laws, including a statewide class action with 50,000-plus member class and multiple class actions with class sizes well in excess of one thousand members and reaching favorable resolutions of those matters.
• Defending employers in connection with multiple nationwide class actions filed under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and reaching favorable resolutions to those cases.
• Defending employers in collective actions under the FLSA and obtaining decertification and/or partial decertification of the class.

Wage and Hour Compliance

In addition to his litigation practice, Mike regularly helps companies navigate through complicated wage and hour issues. In addition to providing general advice and counsel on wage and overtime matters, Mike regularly leads audits of wage and hour practices and procedures, to ensure that employers fix any potential issues before they can lead to litigation. Further, Mike also represents and counsels employers in connection with audits conducted by the United States Department of Labor and various state Departments of Labor.

Employment

Mike regularly defends employers against discrimination and retaliation claims in the federal and state courts. Mike has obtained summary judgment at the district court level and has defended those judgments on appeal in the state and federal appellate courts. Several of the cases Mike has argued and prevailed on in the appellate courts have resulted in published decisions. Mike also regularly defends employers before various federal and state agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and state counterparts. In addition to litigating employment matters, Mike also regularly provides proactive advice and counsel to companies on employment issues to help those clients avoid litigation in the future.

Traditional Labor

Mike’s traditional labor practice involves representing clients in arbitrations, labor injunction proceedings, and before the National Labor Relations Board.

Education

• J.D., cum laude, Indiana University-Bloomington School of Law, 2004
• B.A., cum laude, College of Wooster, 2001

Admission to Practice

• North Carolina
• Illinois
• Supreme Court of Illinois
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
• U.S. District Court, Central, Northern and Southern Districts of Illinois
• U.S. District Court, Eastern, Middle and Western Districts of North Carolina

• American Bar Association
• College of Wooster “W” Association (Association of Former Wooster Intercollegiate Varsity Athletes)

• Corporate Labor and Employment Counsel Exclusive – “The In-House Guide to Developing and Maintaining an Internal Wage and Hour Audit Program” – Amelia Island – November 15, 2024
• Ogletree Deakins Workplace Strategies Seminar – “Defending DOL Audits and Other Enforcement Actions” – Washington, D.C. – May 1, 2024
• Ogletree Deakins Webinar – “COVID in the Carolinas: Legal and Practical Issues for Employers With Operations in North Carolina and South Carolina” – June 9, 2020
• The Employers Association – Employment Law Series – “Federal and State Wage and Hour Laws” – November 9, 2017
• Performance Driven Forum – “Everything I Need to Know About Ethics in the Workplace I Learned at the Movies” – Greer – June 22, 2017
• North Carolina SHRM Conference – “The Final Overtime Regulations: What They Mean to Employers” – Asheville – September 29, 2016
• Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education, Labor and Employment Law Update – “Background Checks – Navigating the Legal Minefield” – Chicago – March 13, 2013

• 2017 – Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal (Chicago-Kent College of Law), Vol. 21, Number 2 – “The Restatement of Employment Law, The View from Practice”
• December 2013 – ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law (Contributing Editor) – “The Developing Labor Law – 2013 Supplement”
• March 1, 2013 – SHRM website – “Fired Principal Lacks First Amendment Claim”
• 2006 – 2011 – The Developing Labor Law (contributing editor) – “Chapter 13, Section XII (Dual Employer Operations: The "Double-Breasted" Issue)”
• 2004 – 53 Bulletin of Comparative Labor Relations 59 – “The Definition of 'Employee' in American Labor and Employment Law”

• August 26, 2016 – Table of Experts: Employment Law – “Charlotte Business Journal”
• October 2011 – Compliance Online – “IRS Offers Employers a Worker Classification Do-Over”

• Illinois Super Lawyers* (2023-2024)
• Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America®
  • Employment Law – Management (2021-2025)
  • Litigation – Labor and Employment (2021-2025)
• Super Lawyers Rising Star* (2013-2019)
• Articles Editor, Indiana Law Journal
  
• Moot Court Board – executive committee
• Order of the Barristers
• Champion of the Sherman Minton Moot Court competition – IU Mauer School of Law
• Recipient of the post-graduate Cummings-Rumbaugh prize for excellence as an undergraduate History major

*No aspect of this communication has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey. For methodology for selection for one of the honors above, please click on the following link.