Michael D. Gifford One Technology Plaza, Suite 600 211 Fulton Street Peoria, IL  61602-1350 Office: (309) 999-6329 Fax: (309) 672-1568   Download vCard [ MGifford@howardandhoward.com ] Print this Bio

Mr. Gifford has practiced labor and employment law and litigation in Central Illinois for over 20 years. Mr. Gifford received his J.D., cum laude, from Southern Illinois University School of Law in December 1980, where he was a Law Review editor, and also served as a Special Investigator for the Illinois Attorney General’s Office.

Mr. Gifford regularly advises and represents clients on a wide variety of employment issues, including, hiring, testing, record keeping, discipline and discharge, discrimination, retaliation, collective bargaining and wage and hour matters. He also counsels clients and other attorneys on matters involving all facets of electronically stored information (“ESI”), including forensics, litigation holds and related issues, as well as discovery, production, preservation and retention of ESI, commonly called eDiscovery. Mr. Gifford has worked with clients and counsel on eDiscovery issues in numerous areas of substantive law. Mr. Gifford also writes policies and procedures related to general employment and eDiscovery issues, as well as issues arising from employee use of social networking sites, such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Mr. Gifford is admitted to practice and has represented clients on employment matters before all of Illinois’ courts, including the Illinois Supreme Court, as well as the U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Central Districts of Illinois, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. He also regularly represents clients before the Illinois Human Rights Commission, Illinois Department of Human Rights, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, U.S. Department of Labor, National Labor Relations Board, Illinois Department of Labor, Illinois Department of Transportation and the Illinois Department of Employment Security.

Mr. Gifford is a frequent speaker before legal and human resources groups and management seminars, addressing topics including eDiscovery and related issues, employee use of social networking sites, harassment, discrimination and retaliation, discipline and discharge, wage and hour and other issues. He has also taught law related classes at Illinois Central College and Bradley University.

Mr. Gifford has served as Vice Chairman of the City of Peoria Personal Appeals Board and as a Director of the Peoria County Bar Association. He has been selected as an Illinois Leading Lawyer for management representation in employment matters for 2006--2010. Mr. Gifford is also a member of the 7th Circuit’s committee on the 7th Circuit eDiscovery Pilot Program.

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