Wanta Thome Employment Lawyers is a plaintiff-side law firm with offices in Minneapolis and Chicago, representing employees across Minnesota and Illinois. Our clients have been fired, discriminated against, harassed, retaliated against, or shorted on pay. We represent them on contingency, so we are paid only when they recover. We are a team of about 25 attorneys, paralegals, case managers, and operations staff, and we run the firm using efficient processes: every seat has defined outcomes, every week has a Scorecard, and every quarter has Rocks the whole firm can see. We invest in process, technology, and data so our lawyers spend their time on the work that moves cases. Our mission is to undo the economic harm of workplace discrimination, and we measure ourselves by the results we get for people who come to us in the worst year of their working lives.

Most employment cases that should resolve can resolve before a complaint is filed. That only happens when someone on the employee's side builds the demand right, sets the pace, and holds the number. At Wanta Thome, pre-litigation is where many of our clients get paid, and it is where the firm's reputation with employers and defense counsel is made. The firm is growing, and we are adding an early-career attorney to work directly with our lead pre-litigation attorney, who will delegate work across the docket and train you in how we build and resolve cases.

Our clients are employees who were fired, discriminated against, retaliated against, or shorted on pay. We represent them on contingency in Minnesota and Illinois. The client is in the worst year of their working life, and the result we tell them a case is worth is the result we are expected to get.

What you will own

The lead pre-litigation attorney owns the docket and delegates work to you across it. You own every task you are given, from assignment to done. 

• Delegated work returned on the date you committed to, right the first time. Turnaround and rework are on your Scorecard and you will see them every week.
• Negotiation support: valuation memos, response letters, and negotiation plans for the lead attorney, and the calls and negotiations the lead attorney hands you as your skill grows.
• Clients on your delegated matters who hear from you within one business day, including when there is no news, and who hear bad news early and by phone.
• A growing share of the work. Over your first year, the lead attorney delegates more matters, more negotiations, and more judgment calls as your work earns it.

What you need to bring

• Admission to practice in Minnesota or Illinois, or in another U.S. jurisdiction with admission in Minnesota or Illinois within 12 months of your start date. If you sat for the July 2026 bar exam, apply now; your start date follows your swearing-in.
• Evidence that you can persuade people and move them off a position. Law school clinics, moot court, mediation work, sales, recruiting, or a prior career all count.
• Evidence that you can carry volume and hit deadlines without being chased.
• An eagerness to accept frequent, direct coaching and promptly incorporate feedback into future interactions.

Plaintiff-side employment interest or experience is a plus. Negotiation experience in any setting is a plus.

What the work looks like here

You take every client as they come. The case is the facts; the client's background and personality do not change your effort.

You set the agenda. Defense counsel will try to slow the file with letters, delay, and a first offer designed to test your patience. You will learn to run each case on our timeline and our theory.

 Every case moves every week. "I'm going to" said twice in a row is a problem, and a perfect demand sent after the leverage is gone does not count as done. When the same friction shows up a second time, you fix the process.

 When a case has a problem, you raise it the same day, with evidence and a proposed path. Once the team decides, you commit, including when you argued the other side.

 You own the result, including the seams. When a number moves or a date slips, your first sentence starts with "I."

This seat is a poor fit if

• You want to run your own cases from day one, or you prefer long observation before you do real work.
• ou prefer to wait for the other side to set the pace.
• You find weekly metrics and a visible Scorecard uncomfortable.
• Direct, frequent feedback on your work feels like criticism.

How to apply

Send your resume and a short note that answers two questions. Applications without both answers will not be reviewed.

1. Tell us about a specific time you moved someone off their position. Who was it, where did they start, where did they end up, and what did you do that moved them?
2. Tell us about the heaviest workload you have carried with hard deadlines. How many things were you responsible for, how did you decide what moved first, and what slipped, if anything?

Compensation and process

$73,000 to $85,000 salary, full-time, depending on experience. The firm brings the cases; origination is not expected. Benefits include health and dental insurance, a 401(k) with employer contribution, vacation, and holidays.

 Our process includes an assessment, a career-history telephone interview, one or two video interviews, a short drafting exercise, and reference conversations that you arrange. We aim to reach a decision within three weeks of your first screen.

 Wanta Thome exists to build a more just workplace through employee advocacy. If you want to be trained to negotiate, measured on what you resolve, and held to how you treat the people you represent, we want to hear from you.