J. Bryan Wood

The founder of The Wood Law Office, LLC, J. Bryan Wood, has devoted his entire career to handling employment law cases. He represents employees throughout the Chicago, Illinois, area in matters involving issues such as wage and hour disputes, harassment, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and wrongful termination. On the other side, he advises select employers on compliance and defends them in litigation matters.

Mr. Wood has personal experience with wrongdoing in the workplace. In his first job at a grocery store, he was paid less than minimum wage and expected to run the meat grinder despite being underage. He promptly quit when he was refused a raise that would bring him up to minimum wage.  In college he helped write the first employee manual for his natural foods grocer employer.  And as an attorney for 20+ years he's helped  employees and employers handle employment law issues they face.

Mr. Wood is a member of The Chicago Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law Section, the American Association for Justice, the Federal Bar Association, the National Employment Lawyers Association and its Illinois chapter, NELA-Illinois

Through his effective and assertive practice, Mr. Wood has recovered millions of dollars on behalf of clients. He also helps people secure favorable settlements without having to go to litigation.  And he has helped employers successfully avoid litigation through compliance advice or settlement negotiations and, when necessary, defended them.

He is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Courts for the Central, Northern and Southern District of Illinois as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit.

For his accomplishments, Mr. Wood has earned the highest peer rating possible of AV Preeminent* from Martindale-Hubbell.

Mr. Wood earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Virginia in 1996. He then graduated with a Juris Doctor in 1999 from the University of Virginia School of Law.

*AV®, AV Preeminent®, Martindale-Hubbell Distinguished and Martindale-Hubbell Notable are certification marks used under license in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies. Martindale-Hubbell® is the facilitator of a peer review rating process. Ratings reflect the anonymous opinions of members of the bar and the judiciary. Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Rating™ fall into two categories – legal ability and general ethical standards.