Alejandro Caffarelli is the founder of the employment law firm of Caffarelli & Associates, Ltd. He is a former President of the Illinois Chapter of the National Employment Lawyers’ Association, and a former Executive Board member of the Hispanic Lawyers’ Association of Illinois. The Firm represents employees from all walks of life, from migrant workers and day laborers to clerical workers, middle management, academics and Fortune 500 executives, as well as business of all sizes, and government.
In over twenty-five years as an employment lawyer, Mr. Caffarelli has successfully advised thousands of clients and litigated hundreds of cases in federal and state courts. He has prevailed at jury trials and on appeal, and in the process has successfully argued many legal issues of first impression. See Rasic v. City of Northlake (N.D.Ill. No. 08C0104) (establishing that a police chief is individually liable for FMLA violations) and Beltran v. Brentwood North Healthcare Center, LLC (N.D.Ill. No. 05C2558) (establishing that sleeping on the job does not constitute a breach of fiduciary duty). In Loudermilk v. Best Pallet (7th Cir. 10-1846) Mr. Caffarelli obtained the reversal of a Summary Judgment on appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Authored by Chief Judge Frank Easterbrook, this seminal decision reaffirms an employee’s right to gather information to support a discrimination claim. More recently, Mr. Caffarelli prevailed in a jury trial on behalf of a school administrator who was denied FMLA leave after exhibiting symptoms of severe mental distress, which was upheld on appeal. Valdivia v. Township High School District 214 (7th Cir. 19-1410).
Mr. Caffarelli also has extensive experience litigating class actions, which have resulted in numerous six and seven-figure settlements including but not limited to the $10.2 Million settlement of a TCPA case against a multinational bank in federal court, a $5.7 Million settlement of a BIPA case against a major food processor in Cook Co. Circuit Court, a $3 Million settlement of a FLSA/Illinois Minimum Wage Law case on behalf of commissioned employees in federal court, and many others.
Unlike many of his peers, Mr. Caffarelli has a broad range of experience representing both employees as well as corporate clients. He began his career working for a few years at a large Chicago law firm handling management-side work prior to founding Caffarelli & Associates in the year 2000. In 2008, Mr. Caffarelli was appointed to be a Special Assistant Corporation Counsel to defend the City of Chicago in two class action cases with potential damages in the millions. And in 2022 his appointment was renewed to represent the Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department in termination hearings before the Chicago Police Board. Since 2020, he has served on the National Roster of Employment Arbitrators for the American Arbitration Association.
Starting in 2008, Mr. Caffarelli has been awarded the top “AV” rating in ethical standards and legal ability by LexisNexis’ Martindale-Hubbell, one of the oldest and most respected peer-review based rating services. According to Martindale-Hubbell, the attainment of an “AV” rating is “a testament to the fact that a lawyer’s peers rank him or her at the highest level of professional excellence.” In 2011, Mr. Caffarelli was named an “Illinois Super Lawyer,” and has continued to be named a Super Lawyer each year since then, as well as being named among the top 100 lawyers in the State of Illinois since 2022 in all practice areas. Since 2018 he has been listed as one of the 500 leading employment lawyers in the U.S. by Lawdragon. And since 2019, he has been named a Leading Lawyer by Law Bulletin Media. Mr. Caffarelli also has been rated “superb,” a perfect 10 out of 10 on a numerical scale, by Avvo. He has also been quoted and recognized as an employment law expert by the national media, including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times online, Univision Chicago, and Telemundo.
Mr. Caffarelli is proud of his service to the legal profession. In 2014 then-Chief Judge Ruben Castillo appointed him to the Pro Bono Advisory Committee for the Unites States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and in 2018 U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth appointed him to a joint screening committee whose task is to review and vet District Court candidates and advise the Senators regarding the candidates’ qualifications and fitness for the position. Since 2005, Mr. Caffarelli has provided pro bono services on behalf of indigent workers through ARISE-Chicago, and has served on the ARISE Legal Advisory Board. He has extensive speaking experience, and has served on dozens of panels throughout his career, including seminars and at meetings of the American Bar Association, the Chicago Bar Association, and the National Employment Lawyers’ Association.
Mr. Caffarelli received a B.A. from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, with a double major of History and Spanish Literature, and received a Juris Doctor from the University of Minnesota Law School, where he was awarded a full scholarship and served as Note & Comment Editor for the prestigious Minnesota Law Review, which has been ranked among the ten most cited law journals in the United States.
In 1995, he served as an intern for the Honorable Judge Michael Davis of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. Since graduation, Mr. Caffarelli has been admitted to practice law before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the Illinois Supreme Court, and the trial bar of the Northern District of Illinois, and several other courts nationwide. In 2005, Mr. Caffarelli honed his trial skills by participating in the National Institute for Trial Advocacy’s Midwest Regional Workshop in St. Paul, Minnesota. In 2020 he became a certified mediator by completing the Chicago Bar Association’s Advanced Workshop for Improved Negotiation, Mediation and Advocacy Skills.
Born in Argentina and raised in the United States, Alejandro Caffarelli is fluent in both English and Spanish. He is the proud father of a friendly, energetic wheaten terrier who is the bestest dog ever, and two human children. Alejandro and his wife currently live on the north side of the city of Chicago.
