Cara Ottenweller > Vedder Price > Chicago, United States > Lawyer Profile

Cara Ottenweller

+1 (312) 609 7735 cottenweller@vedderprice.com View profile

Work Department

Labor and Employment

Position

Shareholder

Career

Ms. Ottenweller regularly counsels and partners with clients on a broad range of complex human resources and employment law issues, and offers creative, strategic, and practical solutions that align with her clients’ needs and goals. For example, she advises on topics including complicated employee onboarding, discipline, and termination issues; FMLA, ADA and other leave and accommodation scenarios; minimizing costly wage and hour mishaps and claims; sophisticated workforce restructuring efforts and reductions in force; developing and implementing enforceable restrictive covenant agreements; workplace violence prevention and response; and medical and recreational marijuana in the workplace. As part of her counseling practice, Ms. Ottenweller also regularly develops workplace policies, conducts sensitive workplace investigations, and leads engaging and interactive employment training courses for employers and employees alike.  More recently, she has helped companies navigate the ever-changing COVID-19 landscape, including remote work issues, ensuring a safe and compliant workplace, and strategizing ways to minimize liability risks.

While Ms. Ottenweller’s primary goal is to keep her clients out of the courtroom, she has also successfully represented and defended employers against a variety of traditional labor and employment law claims when they do arise, including federal and state litigation, administrative proceedings before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, the U.S. Department of Labor and other federal, state and local agencies, and various arbitral forums.

Memberships

• Member, American Bar Association

Education

• Valparaiso University School of Law, J.D., 2007, magna cum laude
• Indiana University, B.A., 2002