Associate Attorney
Nicholas K.C. Garcia Lisle is an associate attorney at Flaherty & Hood and practices primarily labor and employment law. Specifically, he provides legal services in the areas of:
- Labor contract negotiations, grievances, strikes, and unionization efforts
- Personnel performance and conduct, fitness-for-duty, and employment data practices and open meeting matters
- Mediation, arbitration, public employment agency, administrative, civil service, veterans preference, unemployment, and court proceedings
- Employment policies and procedures
- Wage, hour, pay equity, Fair Labor Standards Act, and benefit analysis, systems, and compliance
- Workplace investigations, management trainings, and organizational reviews
- Advice on complying with labor and employment and data practices laws
Prior to joining the firm in 2022, Nicholas clerked for Fish Potter Bolaños, P.C., where he focused his efforts heavily on employment litigation. He also formerly worked in state government with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, and several years in local government with the City of Saint Charles, Ill., where he worked in human resources and first developed his affinity for the public sector and labor and employment law.
Nicholas received his B.A. summa cum laude from Northern Illinois University, where he studied public administration and nonprofit studies. He obtained his J.D. and J.D. Certificate in Labor & Employment Law from Chicago-Kent College of Law at the Illinois Institute of Technology. At Chicago-Kent, Nicholas served as co-editor of the Illinois Public Employee Relations Report, vice president of the Labor & Employment Law Society, president of the Student Humanitarian Network, and executive board member of the Hispanic-Latinx Law Student Association. As part of the certificate program, Nicholas also completed a labor and employment externship with Clark Baird Smith LLP and an internship with the Chicago-Kent Employment Law Clinic. He received the CALI Award for Future Excellence in the Workplace Alternative Dispute Resolution course for his employer-side advocate efforts and obtaining the highest grade in the course, the Chicago-Kent Diversity Matters Award, the Public Service Leadership Award, and the Hispanic Lawyer Scholarship Fund Board of Directors and Goldberg Kohn Awards for his academic achievement and contributions to the Latino Community.
Nicholas is proudly Mexican-American and a member of the Minnesota Hispanic Bar Association and Hispanic National Bar Association. He has traversed from the Windy City to the Twin Cities for the warm weather and to pick up ice fishing as a hobby. Outside of work, he enjoys volunteering, rescuing dogs, catching a baseball game, soaking in the Midwest sun while it lasts, and spending time with his fiancé, friends, and family.
