Bernard J. ("Bud") Bobber is a partner and litigation lawyer with Foley & Lardner LLP. Although he maintains his office in Milwaukee, Mr. Bobber represents employers before federal and state courts and administrative agencies throughout the country in all areas of employment law, with particular focus on wage and hour, trade secrets/noncompete, employee benefits and employment discrimination matters. Mr. Bobber has extensive experience in the defense of class action cases. He also routinely represents clients in labor arbitrations and in unfair labor practice proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board. Mr. Bobber is vice chair of the firm’s national Labor & Employment Practice and co-chair of the Trade Secret/Noncompete Specialty Practice.
Mr. Bobber also provides both organized and union-free employers with employment and labor law advice, and provides assistance with problem prevention. For example, Mr. Bobber drafts employment agreements and company policies with confidentiality, non-competition and other restrictive covenants for employers to use with key employees. He also counsels employers on reductions and reorganizations, harassment issues, disability accommodation, problematic terminations, collective bargaining strategy, and a host of other work place issues that require thoughtful analysis and practical application of the legal rights and obligations of employers.
Mr. Bobber is an experienced trial lawyer, having tried cases before juries and judges in federal courts in Illinois, Wisconsin, New York and Missouri, as well as in state courts in Wisconsin and Illinois. Additionally, he has tried well over 100 arbitration cases. He also has argued appeals before the United States Courts of Appeals for the Seventh, Sixth, Tenth, Third and Second Circuits. From 2001 through 2008, Mr. Bobber has served as a co-coordinator of the firm’s Litigation Department Training Program. In that role, Mr. Bobber had responsibility for the training of the firm’s litigation associates, numbering approximately 150, in the areas of trial advocacy and related litigation skills.
In addition to his litigation and counseling work for clients, Mr. Bobber rounds out his practice by frequently speaking and teaching on employment and labor law topics. For example, for over nine consecutive years, Mr. Bobber has been invited by the largest employer organization in Wisconsin and Illinois to give the keynote address on overall employment law developments at its annual employment law update seminar conducted for its member organizations.
