Yuting Li '18 receives 2018 Sandra P. Zemm Prize

Yuting Li '18 is the recipient of the 2018 Sandra P. Zemm Labor Law Prize, awarded annually to an outstanding student in labor and employment law. The prize was established in 2009 at Chicago-Kent College of Law by the law firm of Seyfarth Shaw LLP to honor the memory of Sandra P. Zemm, who died in September 2008 after a lengthy battle with cancer. 

Li graduated from Chicago-Kent in May 2018 with a J.D. degree and a J.D. Certificate in Labor and Employment Law. She previously earned an LL.M. in U.S. International and Transnational Law from Chicago-Kent in 2014 and a bachelor's of law (LL.B.) degree from Yantai University in Shandong, China, in 2011. 

During her time at Chicago-Kent, Li externed at the law firm of Laner Muchin and for Illinois Appellate Court Justice Terrence J. Lavin. In addition, Li worked as a legal intern at the Workplace Rights Bureau of the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, the Chicago Housing Authority, and Delaney Law PC. She currently works as a law clerk at the Elman Law Group LLC in Chicago. 

Li was the president of Chicago-Kent’s Labor and Employment Law Society and a student editor for the Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal and the Illinois Public Employee Relations Report. She earned CALI Awards for receiving the highest grade in the class in Labor Law and in Negotiations. Li also volunteered at Illinois Legal Aid Online and at Chicago Volunteer Legal Services Chinatown Pro Bono Clinic. 

Li's nominators and classmates have said that "Yuting has always been very helpful and supportive" and that "Yuting is very involved in trying to help other students take advantage of the labor and employment certificate program." Beyond helping her fellow students, Yuting cares deeply about the educational rights of migrant workers’ children.

The Sandra P. Zemm Labor Law Prize is awarded annually to a third-year Chicago-Kent student in the Labor and Employment Law Certificate Program who exemplifies the qualities that Ms. Zemm possessed: "a commitment to pursue a career in labor and employment law, a pioneer spirit and willingness to take the initiative whenever possible, and a gracious and generous attitude toward helping those in need," according to Seyfarth Shaw.

A Chicago native, Sandra P. Zemm earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois. She received her J.D. from Florida State University, where she served as managing editor of the law review.

She joined Seyfarth Shaw in 1975 as the first female associate in the Labor and Employment Practice. In 1982, she became the firm's first female equity partner in Labor and Employment. Her practice concentrated on traditional labor matters, and on matters involving employment discrimination, wage-hour, and employment litigation. She negotiated collective bargaining and/or shutdown agreements with major labor unions, and represented management in more than 200 hearings before arbitrators, the National Labor Relations Board and various state labor agencies. In 2002, Ms. Zemm was elected to the American College of Labor and Employment Lawyers.

Seyfarth Shaw has more than 850 attorneys located throughout the United States, as well as internationally in London, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Melbourne and Sydney. The firm provides a broad range of legal services in the areas of labor and employment, employee benefits, litigation, corporate, and real estate.

Founded in 1888, Chicago-Kent College of Law is the law school of Illinois Institute of Technology, also known as Illinois Tech, a private, technology-focused, research university offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering, science, architecture, business, design, human sciences, applied technology, and law.