Overview

Lavanga V. Wijekoon has experience representing employers in a wide range of labor and employment class action and single-plaintiff matters, involving such as issues as:

  • Discrimination
  • Harassment
  • Retaliation
  • Wage and hour
  • Misclassification
  • Employment contracts
  • Independent contractors
  • Wage garnishments

Lavanga handles district and appellate level actions in state and federal courts and before agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR), and the Illinois Human Rights Commission (IHRC). 

Lavanga also provides strategic advice and counsel to multinational employers on a wide range of international employment and compliance matters, including such areas as:

  • Global mobility programs and expatriate workforces
  • The United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
  • Labor obligations under free trade agreements
  • Multi-country and international surveys on employment laws and practices
  • Global codes of conduct and international policies
  • Global independent contractors
  • The employment cycle including applications, interviewing, hiring, discipline, promotions, demotions, recordkeeping and terminations

Lavanga is a member of Littler's Pro Bono Committee and has an active pro bono practice in which he represents clients in asylum petitions before the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and immigration courts.  He has also represented numerous “Dreamer” clients in Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals petitions. 

Prior to joining Littler, Lavanga was an associate at an international law firm in Chicago. He also served as a law clerk to Hon. Marywave Van Deren of the Washington State Court of Appeals and as an extern to Hon. Marsha J. Pechman of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.

While in law school, he served as an editor for the Pacific Rim Law & Policy Journal and as a member of the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Court team. He was awarded grants to conduct field research on human trafficking in India and Nepal.  

Professional & Community Affiliations

Member

Illinois State Bar Association

Member

American Bar Association

Member, Junior Leadership Board

National Immigrant Justice Center

2012-present

Member

Chicago Council on Global Affairs

Member, Professional Board

PAWS Chicago

Recognition

Named, Ones to Watch

The Best Lawyers in America®

2022-2025

Named, Rising Star

National Immigrant Justice Center

2013

Recipient, John H. & George V. Powell Endowed Award for Human Rights

University of Washington School of Law

2006 and 2008

Recipient, Takuji Yamashita Endowed Memorial Scholarship for Human Rights

University of Washington School of Law

2008

Books & Book Chapters

  • Sections of Chapter 21: International Labor and Employment Law, International Corporate Practice: A Practitioner’s Guide to Global Success, Practising Law Institute, chapter co-authors: Philip Berkowitz and Trent Sutton, February 2021
  • 2019 Employment Law Update, Misplaced Efforts: The United Nations’ Proposed Treaty Imposing Corporate Liability for Human Rights Violations, Chapter 11, Wolters Kluwer, chapter co-author Michael G. Congiu, 2019
  • Sri Lanka, The Littler Mendelson Guide to Employment & Labor Law (6th Ed.), Chapter editor, 2019
  • 2017 Employment Law Update, Imposing Liability on Employers Under the Shadow of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights, Chapter 4, Wolters Kluwer, chapter co-author Michael G. Congiu, 2017
  • Littler on Multinational Employers, co-author Philip Berkowitz, 2016
  • International Whistleblowing Issues, Whistleblowing & Retaliation: A Guide for Human Resources Professionals & Counsel, Chapter 10 author, LexisNexis, 4th Ed., 2014
  • 2014 Employment Law Update, Leveling the Playing Field: Examining Firestone Deference in Delinquent Contribution Lawsuits, Chapter 2, Wolters Kluwer, chapter co-authors Michael G. Congiu and Stefanie H. Kastrinsky, 2014

Education

  • J.D., University of Washington School of Law, 2009
  • M.A., Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington, 2009
  • B.A., Illinois Wesleyan University, 2004magna cum laude

Languages

  • Sinhalese
  • English

Bar Admission

Illinois

Courts

  • U.S. Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
  • U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Iowa