James B. Zouras

Jim Zouras is an accomplished trial lawyer, representing people in both individual and complex class cases. Jim represents hard-working individuals in wage and hour litigation, and seriously-injured persons in negligence actions. Jim has helped hundreds of clients and their families recover monetary damages in cases involving wrongful death, vehicle crashes, products liability, premises liability, construction negligence and other catastrophic personal injury. Jim has successfully tried over a dozen major jury trials and won tens of millions of dollars on behalf of his clients. In addition, he has successfully secured monetary awards in several class actions which have collectively resulted in monetary awards to tens of thousands of employees.

In 2000, the Chicago Law Bulletin named Jim one of the “Top 40 Lawyers Under Age 40,” one of the youngest lawyers ever bestowed this honor. In addition, for six years in a row, Chicago Magazine has recognized Jim as an Illinois Rising Star and Super Lawyer, a distinction given to no more than 5% of the lawyers in the state. Jim and his cases have been profiled by numerous media outlets including the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times, Billboard Magazine and TMZ. Jim was also interviewed by CBS Consumer Watch.

Illinois, 1995

United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, 1996 (admitted to Trial Bar)

Admitted pro hac vice in the Central and Southern Districts of Illinois, the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York, the Superior Court for the State of California, the Northern and Southern Districts of Florida, the Northern and Southern Districts of Iowa, the Eastern District of Missouri, the District of Maryland, the Southern District of Ohio, the District of Massachusetts, District of New Jersey, the District of Minnesota, and the Western District of Washington.

DePaul University College of Law, J.D., with honor, Order of the Coif, 1995

University of Illinois Chicago, Political Science, with distinction, 1992

• Invited speaker at the Practicing Law Institute, 2012 and 2015
• Invited speaker at the Bridgeport Continuing Education Wage & Hour Seminar, 2012 and 2014
• Invited speaker at the Chicago Bar Association, 2008
• DePaul University College of Law Review, Editor and published author, 1994-1995

• Chicago Magazine, “Super Lawyer” 2015
• Chicago Magazine, “Super Lawyer” 2014
• Chicago Magazine, “Super Lawyer” 2013
• Chicago Magazine, “Super Lawyer” 2012
• Chicago Magazine, “Rising Stars” 2011
• Chicago Magazine, “Rising Stars” 2010
• Chicago Law Bulletin, “Top 40 Under 40,” 2000

• Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, 1997-current
• Illinois State Bar Association 1997-current
• National Employment Lawyers Association 2007-current

• $13 Million class settlement on behalf of employees of a nationwide convenience store chain who were deprived of overtime wages
• $12 Million judgment on behalf of auditors, buyers and mangers misclassified as employees for a nationwide buying and collecting company
• $9 Million jury verdict against a financial institution which deliberately failed to pay hundreds of loan officers minimum or overtime wages as required by federal law
• $9 Million settlement on the eve of trial for a nationwide class of employees of a retailer who were “misclassified” as exempt and deprived of overtime wages. This action not only benefited class members, but established legal rights for alleged “managerial” employees who do not supervise the equivalent of at least 80 hours of subordinate time.
• $6 Million wrongful death settlement on behalf of the estate of a Chicago worker who was the victim of a tragic elevator crash
• $6 Million settlement on behalf of call center employees who were required to perform pre-shift work off-the-clock
• $3 Million class settlement on behalf of employees of a financial institution which failed to pay Florida mortgage loan officers minimum or overtime wages as required by federal law
• $3.27 Million jury verdict against Johnson and Johnson for defective design, failure to warn and negligence related to transvaginal mesh device
• A multi-million dollar settlement in a breach of contract class action against a high-tech communications company for failing to pay all wages earned
• Numerous multi-million dollar settlements and verdicts on behalf of thousands of loan officers employed by several financial institutions who were deprived of minimum and overtime wages across the United States
• Obtaining millions of dollars for cable technicians and installers who were misclassified as independent contractors and/or deprived of overtime wages
• Obtaining several six-figure settlements against several prominent restaurants and bars for failing to pay employees overtime and/or minimum wages, requiring them to work off-the-clock and engaging in improper “tip pooling”
• Obtaining multiple six-figure settlements on behalf of tenants of several large apartment buildings who failed to pay interest or return security deposits in violation of the state and local law
• Recovering millions of dollars for victims of negligence in vehicle crashes, wrongful death, premises liability, product liability and other serious personal injury
• Securing a judgment against an insurance company for 18 times the limits of its liability policy for its bad faith refusal to settle a case before trial
• Securing substantial jury verdict in federal court against medical institution on behalf of employees who were deprived of minimum and overtime wages as required by federal and state law

• Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago Volunteer, 2008-current
• Chicago Food Pantry Volunteer, 2012