Jackson Lewis

James F. Botana is a Partner in the Chicago, Illinois office of Jackson Lewis LLP.

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Mr. Botana represents management in employment cases in federal and state courts, and before administrative agencies in a variety of employment and labor related claims.

Prior to joining Jackson Lewis, he was a prosecutor and a senior attorney in the Employment Litigation Department of the Office of the Corporation Counsel for the City of Chicago.  He has successfully prosecuted and defended numerous civil and criminal cases in trials and evidentiary hearings in federal and state courts.  Mr. Botana has represented the City of Chicago in prosecuting criminal and quasi-criminal matters and has defended the City of Chicago in employment discrimination, civil rights, and insurance defense cases in state and federal court.  Since joining Jackson Lewis LLP in August 2000, Mr. Botana has continued to represent management before federal and state courts and administrative agencies in a variety of employment and labor related claims.  He currently serves as a Special Assistant Corporation counsel and represents the City of Chicago and its employees in a variety of claims.

Mr. Botana was born in Havana, Cuba, and raised in Spain.  He is fluent in Spanish and is frequently called upon by businesses with large Spanish-speaking workforces to train managers and supervisors as well as non-supervisory employees in both English and Spanish in best employment practices and to conduct investigations of employment related disputes.

Mr. Botana has written articles on labor and employment matters, including “New EEOC Guidance on National Origin Discrimination Addresses Issues Arising from a Dramatically Diverse Workforce” and “Habla Español” both published in the Illinois Manufacturer.

Mr. Botana is the co-chair of Jackson Lewis’ Hispanic Practice Group, a group of attorneys in the firm who specialize in providing assistance in workplace law matters to businesses with a large Hispanic workforce.  Mr. Botana is also a founding member of the firm’s Diversity Committee.  Mr. Botana was recently appointed to a two year term on the Illinois State Advisory Committee (SAC) of the US Commission on Civil Rights.

He is admitted to practice in Illinois, as well as before the U.S. District Court for the Northern, Central, and Southern Districts of Illinois, as well as the United States Supreme Court and the Federal Trial Bar.  He is a member of the Hispanic National Bar Association and the Illinois Hispanic Lawyers’ Association, where he serves as a mentor to law students and undergraduate students, and has served on the Judicial Evaluation Committee and the Translations Committee.  Mr. Botana is still active with the DePaul Latino Law Student Association, which awarded him with the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2006.  Mr. Botana is also involved in a variety of public interest and pro bono activities including serving on the Board of Directors of the Children’s Center of Cicero and Berwyn, an organization that provides counseling services for emotionally disturbed preschool children, education seminar for families, day care for 3 to 5 year old children of working parents and parents enrolled in school full time.  He also serves on the Board of directors for the Oak Park Children’s Clinic and the Foundation for Chicago State University.

Mr. Botana earned his B.S. Ed., magna cum laude, from Chicago State University and his J.D. from DePaul University, where he received the American Jurisprudence Award for Constitutional Process.

Published Works

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