Morgan Lewis Adds In-House Labor Leader Sara Kalis in Chicago

CHICAGO, September 21, 2026: Morgan Lewis continues to expand its nationally recognized labor and employment practice with the addition of partner Sara Kalis, resident in the firm's Chicago office. Sara joins the firm's labor-management relations team following senior in-house legal roles at Amazon, where she helped build the company's traditional labor function and was pivotal in high-profile labor relations matters. She also brings a significant private practice background representing employers in collective bargaining, labor strategy, and National Labor Relations Act matters.

“Sara’s distinctive perspective shaped by advising on labor strategy from both inside a major global company and in private practice will be a valuable asset to our clients and our firm,” said Firm Chair-Elect David McManus. “Her practice operates at the intersection of legal, workforce, and business priorities—a powerful combination that will benefit clients.”

Sara focuses her practice on traditional labor law, advising employers on matters spanning collective bargaining, union organizing, representation proceedings, unfair labor practices, labor compliance, and labor strategy. Her practice also includes counseling clients on labor issues arising in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and other corporate transactions, including bargaining obligations and labor-related transaction planning.

"More and more, traditional labor issues are intertwined with broader business strategy, from collective bargaining and union organizing to transformational corporate events,” said Michael Puma, leader of the firm’s global labor and employment practice. “Sara’s extensive experience across these areas deepens our labor-management relations team and bolsters our expanding labor offerings for clients—both traditional and novel.”

Sara's arrival further enhances one of the largest and most established traditional labor practices in the United States, which includes two former National Labor Relations Board chairmen, John Ring and Philip Miscimarra, and former NLRB member Harry Johnson. Her arrival follows recent key additions to the firm’s labor and employment practice, including labor relations and litigation partners James La Rocca in New York, Benjamin Davis in Miami, and Katherine (Kat) Gibson in London and the return of partners Donald (Donny) E. English, Jr. in Washington, DC and Jason Mills in Los Angeles.