Valerie Hoffman > Seyfarth Shaw LLP > Chicago, United States > Lawyer Profile

Valerie Hoffman

(312) 460-5870 vhoffman@seyfarth.com

Work Department

Labor & Employment; People Analytics; OFCCP & Affirmative Action Compliance; Employment Litigation; Workplace Counseling & Solutions; Background Screening Compliance & Litigation; Hiring, Testing & Selection; Health Care Labor & Employment.

Position

Ms. Hoffman is a partner at Seyfarth Shaw LLP where she has a nation-wide practice of labor and employment law and has served in various management roles at the Firm. As counsel to management, Ms. Hoffman advises employers of all varieties and sizes, including Fortune 100 technology, financial services, professional services, hospitality, and manufacturing companies. While Ms. Hoffman has a broad-based employment law advice and counsel practice, she has a particular focus on strategies to prevent and resolve issues relating to employment discrimination, including pay equity and glass ceiling issues, OFCCP defense and affirmative action compliance, and advice about legally defensible diversity, equity and inclusion practices. She is a core leader of the Firm’s Pay Equity Group and founded and is Co-Chair of the Firm’s nationally prominent OFCCP, Affirmative Action & Diversity practice.

In addition, Ms. Hoffman co-founded and co-chairs Seyfarth’s Organizational Strategy & Analytics group. This forward-facing people analytics practice works with employers to design and implement metrics for tracking, assessment and achievement of workforce objectives including effective talent acquisition and management, workforce planning, leadership development, pay equity, diversity, equity and inclusion, reductions in force, and other objectives where data can be leveraged to improve human capital management and work life.

Ms. Hoffman also provides counsel and advice on diversity, equity and inclusion best practices, metrics, progress management and change management. Employers across the country value her  broad knowledge of legally defensible and practical solutions for achieving diversity, equity and inclusion objectives. She has extensive experience counseling senior leaders about these issues and their intersection with employment discrimination law.

Ms. Hoffman receives national media coverage of her observations about issues involving employment-related issues, including workplace metrics, employment discrimination, government compliance, glass ceiling issues, pay equity and diversity, equity and inclusion. She is a popular speaker and writer on these topics. 

Career

Partner, Seyfarth Shaw LLP.

Memberships

Santa Barbara Botanic Garden (Board Chair, Trustee); Los Padres Forest Association (Vice President, Executive Board Member); Union College (Former Trustee, Board Secretary and Executive Committee Member); Greater Los Angeles Industrial Liaison Group (former Board Member); Navistar Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Board (Former Board Member); The Graduate College of Union University (Former Trustee, Board Secretary); AIDS Foundation of Chicago (Former Director and Executive Committee Member); The National Conference for Community and Justice (Former National Advisor, Chicago Region Director and Executive Committee Member); The University Club of Chicago (Former Director); Remains Theatre (Past President, Vice President, Board Member); National Industrial Liaison Group Advisory Council (Council Member).

Education

J.D., Boston College Law School (1978); B.A., Union College, summa cum laude (1975); University of Edinburgh (1973-1974).