Robert A. Boonin
Dykema Gossett PLLC
Detroit, Michigan

Robert A. Boonin, a member of Dykema Gossett PLLC’s Detroit and Ann Arbor offices, served as the 2008 President of the Litigation Counsel of America. Mr. Boonin’s practice is concentrated in the areas of labor and employment law, litigation, civil rights, public contracts and education law. In his litigation practice, he has handled cases before various state and federal administrative agencies, courts and arbitrators throughout the United States. He is admitted to the bars of the State of Michigan, the United States Supreme Court, the Third, Sixth, Eighth and Ninth United States Courts of Appeals, and the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Michigan, the Central District of Illinois and the District of Colorado. Among the non-Michigan jurisdictions in which he has handled state and federal administrative and civil action employment law matters are: Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Missouri, Minnesota, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, California, Washington, Alaska and Puerto Rico. His case load has involved representing employers in such claims as wrongful termination, discrimination, retaliation, constitutional protections, defamation and other torts, and rights under employment related statutes such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act (including collective actions) and the Whistleblowers’ Protection Act.

Mr. Boonin also has extensive experience in handling traditional labor relations matters in both the private and public sectors, including collective bargaining, grievance arbitrations, public sector fact-findings, unfair labor practices and supervisory training. He has practiced before the National Labor Relations Board throughout the country, as well as before state and federal Departments of Labor.

Mr. Boonin’s professional activities include leadership positions in the Labor and Employment Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan, as well as chairing his local bar association’s Labor and Employment Law and Trial Practice Sections. He is also a founder and former Chair of the Michigan Council of School Attorneys, is active in the ABA Labor and Employment Law Section’s Fair Labor Standards Legislation Committee, and a member of the distinguished American Employment Law Council. In addition, he serves on the Labor and Employment Law Advisory Board of the University of Michigan’s Institute of Continuing Legal Education (ICLE). Mr. Boonin is also a Charter Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America and is regularly recognized as one of Michigan’s “Super Lawyers.”

Mr. Boonin frequently speaks on labor and employment issues throughout the country for such groups as the Society for Human Resource Management, ICLE, Lorman, the National Business Institute, the Council of School Attorneys, Sterling Education Services, the State Bar Association and the Michigan Public Employers Labor Relations Association. Much of his litigation and professional writing in recent years regards discrimination and wage and hour matters. He recently co-edited the chapter on national origin discrimination for the fourth edition of the highly respected ABA treatise Employment Discrimination Law (Lindemann, Grossman & Weirich), and is currently co-editing a chapter on collective and class actions for the upcoming new edition of the ABA’s treatise The Fair Labor Standards Act. Mr. Boonin has also authored articles for the Michigan Bar Journal and the Michigan Public Employment and Labor Relations Law Manual.

Mr. Boonin holds a Bachelors of Science in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (1976), a Master’s in Labor and Industrial Relations from Michigan State University (1980), and a J.D. (cum laude) from the University of Michigan Law School (1985). Mr. Boonin is also active in various community organizations, including the Red Cross and the local Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Boonin is a native Philadelphian where he lived through college, and has lived in Michigan since 1977.