BIPA & Wage-and-Hour Litigation: New Exposure and Defense Strategies for Employers

Tyler Zmick, Special Counsel | Duane Morris LLP

Tyler Zmick is special counsel in the Chicago office of Duane Morris LLP, where a substantial part of his practice focuses on defending employers in Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) class actions. He counsels clients on the fastchanging landscape of biometric and information-privacy statutes and is a member of the firm’s Class Action Defense Team.

• Education & Credentials

Mr. Zmick earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Illinois College of Law in 2016, where he served as articles editor of the University of Illinois Law Review, and holds a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison (2008). He is admitted to practice in Illinois, and before the U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Central, and Southern Districts of Illinois and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

• Recognition & Leadership

Mr. Zmick has been named to Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch for 2026 and 2027, and to the Super Lawyers Illinois Rising Stars list for 2024 and 2025.

• Professional Involvement

He is a member of the Chicago Bar Association and the Illinois State Bar Association, and has spoken on BIPA and privacy litigation developments at Duane Morris programs in Chicago and New York in 2023.

• Experience

Mr. Zmick’s practice centers on defending employers in complex privacy and consumer class actions, including BIPA litigation arising from workplace use of biometric technology such as timekeeping and access-control systems. He counsels clients on consent, notice, and disclosure obligations before disputes arise, and defends putative class actions through certification and damages phases. He also represents employers in wage-and-hour and employment-discrimination matters, and in individual and class claims under Title VII and the Fair Labor Standards Act, across industries including health care, retail and ecommerce, telecommunications, food processing, finance, and transportation. Before joining Duane Morris LLP in 2022, Mr. Zmick was an associate at Seyfarth Shaw LLP and, before that, at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP.

Hayley Ryan, Senior Associate | Duane Morris LLP

Hayley H. Ryan is a senior associate in the Chicago office of Duane Morris LLP, practicing in the firm’s Employment, Labor, Benefits and Immigration group and serving as a member of its Class Action Defense Team. She defends class actions for clients across a range of industries, including matters brought under state and federal privacy, consumer-protection, and data-breach statutes.

• Education & Credentials

Ms. Ryan holds a Regulatory and Antitrust Law Certificate from Cornell Law School (2023), a J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law (2016), and a B.A. from DePauw University (2013). She is admitted to practice in Florida, Illinois, New York, and the District of Columbia, and holds the Certified Information Privacy Professional/United States (CIPP/US) credential from the International Association of Privacy Professionals.

• Recognition & Leadership

Ms. Ryan is a frequent author on class action and privacy-litigation developments, including a co-authored article on Illinois BIPA compliance published in the Dow Jones Risk Journal in 2026, and numerous coauthored alerts for the firm’s Class Action Defense Blog addressing biometric-privacy, wiretap, and dataprivacy class action decisions from federal and state courts. She also contributed to the Duane Morris Class Action Review 2026.

• Professional Involvement

Ms. Ryan is committed to pro bono service, including representing a former prisoner in civil rights litigation against a correctional healthcare provider over inadequate medical care under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.

• Experience

Ms. Ryan practices in the firm’s Employment, Labor, Benefits and Immigration group alongside a class action defense practice covering data privacy, consumer protection, product liability, and other commercial and tort-based claims. She has substantial experience defending class actions under state and federal privacy statutes, including the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, the Illinois Genetic Information Privacy Act, and the California Invasion of Privacy Act, among other consumer-protection and data-breach statutes, and she advises clients on privacy and risk-management issues arising from the use of AI tools and systems. She has also served as second- and third-chair trial counsel in civil jury trials involving catastrophic-injury claims and has first-chaired class action mediations. Before joining Duane Morris LLP in 2025, Ms. Ryan was an associate at Cozen O’Connor, Zelle LLP, Foreman Friedman P.C., Sanchez Daniels & Hoffman LLP, and Patton & Ryan LLC.

SESSION 1 – BIPA & Biometric Privacy Litigation: Emerging Exposure and Defense | 12:00pm – 1:00pm

This session examines the evolving landscape of Illinois biometric privacy litigation and the expanding risks employers face when using biometric technology in the workplace. Attorneys will address BIPA liability, employee consent and notice requirements, class certification, damages exposure, and strategies for defending biometric privacy claims. The session will also provide practical guidance for reviewing workplace biometric practices and strengthening compliance programs before disputes arise.

BREAK | 1:00pm – 1:10pm

SESSION 2 – Wage-and-Hour & Employment Class Actions: New Risks and Defense | 1:10pm – 2:10pm

This session focuses on the wage-and-hour risks facing employers in FLSA collective actions and state wage-and-hour class actions. Attorneys will examine employee misclassification, off-the-clock work, timekeeping practices, and strategies for challenging class and collective treatment. The discussion will also address practical approaches to defending large-scale employment litigation, conducting compliance reviews, and identifying potential exposure before claims escalate.