Gray Mateo-Harris is a partner with Barnes & Thornburg LLP. As a 6-year-old immigrant from the Dominican Republic, Gray joined her family in pursuit of the American Dream. Having always been the advocate for her parents because of their limited English, she gravitated towards the law and graduated cum laude from University of Illinois undergrad and law school.
Through her labor and employment practice, Gray closely partners with employers and their professionals. In addition to Gray’s clients counting on her to compassionately but aggressively manage their union/labor relations, administrative proceedings, nationwide employment litigation and arbitrations, they also count on her to partner with them to elevate their workplace culture with respect to their diversity-and-inclusion, #metoo, training, policy-drafting, and internal investigation efforts. She also leverages her native Spanish to provide Spanish-language representation.
Gray has obtained numerous pro-employer rulings or settlements in several high-profile and bet-the-company matters, and has taken matters through trial with favorable outcomes. She was featured by Univision television and Hispanic Executive Magazine, and ranked as an Illinois Leading Lawyer and Super Lawyer. She also received the National Bar Association’s 40 Under 40 Nation’s Best Advocates award in 2019.
Balancing her busy practice and home life as a wife and mother, Gray remains committed to giving back and continuously seeks ways to advance D&I. She has provided pro bono legal representation to indigent clients, survivors of domestic/sexual violence, non-profit agencies and pro-se litigants. She was a Cook County Sherriff’s Merit Board hearing officer, Rape Victim Advocates committee chair and board member, and Chicago Committee on Minorities in Large Law Firms associate board chair. She is a D&I leader at her firm, the NBA L&E Section Vice Chair, Women’s Coalition D&I committee co-chair and an Illinois Equal Justice Foundation board member. Gray prioritizes actively mentoring diverse students and associates through her law school, LegalTrek, HACU, ABF, and Diverse Attorney Pipeline Program.