Editorial: Management Labour & Employment in California

01 August 2007

This chapter highlights private practice lawyers with a proven track record representing and advising management on all aspects of labour, employment and industrial relations law. Many also have extensive litigation experience involving class actions, employment discrimination laws, sexual harassment, employee loyalty, wrongful discharge, ‘whistle-blower’ actions, individual employment contracts and work-related tort claims. 

Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker LLP is internationally renowned for its labour and employment practice. With nine practitioners from its “incredible team” selected for inclusion in this chapter, the firm has more than double the number of its nearest competitor. This is also the greatest showing by a firm in any of the publication’s 25 chapters. Paul Grossman is the most highly nominated practitioner. He is “one of, if not the best employment lawyer in California”, according to one client. He represents major private employers in all aspects of employment law and is the general counsel of the California Employment Law Council. He was described to researchers as “an icon”, “outstanding” and “top-notch, particularly on discrimination laws”. Grossman is also a prolific writer in the area and is the co-author of Lindemann & Grossman, Employment Discrimination Law. In the past 12 months Grossman has won the denial of a class certification in Chand v Target Corp – a state-wide class action; and a summary judgment in Welch-Hess v Remedy Temporary Services (a statewide certified class of 200,000 persons). Nancy Abell is the chair of the firm’s 200-lawyer employment law department and “too good to put into words”, according to one source. Paul Cane chairs the Paul Hastings appellate practice group and is “first-rate for appellate briefings for employment appeal cases”. Kirby Wilcox, “one of the best wage and hour attorneys in California”, is based in the San Francisco office with Cane. Al Latham in Los Angeles was previously President Reagan’s appointee as staff director of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, and chief counsel to Patricia Diaz Dennis, member of the National Labor Relations Board. William Waldo represents both private and public employers (many of which are major international companies) in all aspects of employment and labour law, and employment litigation. Chair of the employment law group in the Palo Alto office and the vice chair of the employment law subcommittee of the ABA’s business law section Bradford Newman has been involved in a number of notable cases this year, including Delfino v Agilent Technologies Inc, a landmark case that now affords employers across the US broad immunity from lawsuits based on employees’ misuse of the employer’s computer systems. James Zapp has “great industry experience” and lectures frequently on labour and employment issues. Jeffrey Wohl brings this impressive listing to an end. Wohl represents clients in the areas of employment litigation and counselling with many coming from industry sectors such as the high-tech, biotech, financial services and retail areas.

O’Melveny & Myers LLP boasts four nominees in this chapter. Gordon Krischer performed particularly well in the research, receiving plaudits from clients and peers for his “inspiring work ethic” and “unquestionable skill”. Krischer was chief negotiator for a metropolitan transit authority and a large school district in talks with numerous bargaining units covering thousands of employees. Chair of the practice group, Scott Dunham, joins Krischer in the chapter. Dunham was described as “phenomenal” and his clients have included Amgen and Sony Pictures Entertainment. Framroze Virjee is “well known” for his multiparty and class action litigation. He works a great deal in the areas of wrongful discharge, discrimination and collective bargaining, and represents clients that include financial and educational institutions. Apalla Chopra is a “strong” lawyer and has acted for clients across a range of industries. 

Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP also has three of its top practitioners in this chapter. Rebecca Eisen is co-chair of the West Coast wage and hour practice and focuses her “great” practice on litigating class actions, multiple plaintiff, and collective actions in state and federal court. A great deal of her work is on behalf of employers in the financial services, insurance and retail industries. Peter Hurtgen has a specialisation in complex issues involving collective bargaining and the National Labor Relations Act. Hurtgen has served as the director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) and has been both a member and chair of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Brendan Dolan is assistant practice group manager of the labour and employment law practice group for northern California and represents clients in a broad range of fields, including technology, communications, energy, media, hospitality and retail. 

Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP is another firm with three practitioners on the following pages. Allen Gross leads the charge and was praised on several occasions as a “top lawyer” with an “excellent reputation”. William Cole co-chairs the labour department. He has served as lead counsel in numerous employment discrimination; whistle-blower; ERISA; Labor Management Relations Act, section 301; and wrongful termination cases, labour arbitrations and NLRB hearings. He is well known for his work in the entertainment industry. Deborah Koeffler completes the firm’s listing and is recommended for her experience in collective bargaining matters and as lead counsel in labour arbitrations. 

David Kadue from Seyfarth Shaw LLP focuses on litigation, principally in the defence of claims for workplace harassment, wrongful termination and discrimination. He performed very well in the nominations, as did Gilmore Diekmann – “a litigator of consummate skill”. In the past 12 months Diekmann has represented Intel, Sun Microsystems and Walgreens in class action cases. The past year has also seen him work on Walsh v IKON Office Solutions, one of only three wage and hour class actions tried before a jury in California, and the only one that has resulted in a verdict for the defence. Stacy Shartin also received praise from high places for his “calm and collected approach to even the most complex of issues”. Shartin is co-chair of the programme committee of the California State Bar Association’s labour and employment law section. 

Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP boasts three lawyers on our list. Former regional counsel and senior trial attorney for the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Gary Siniscalco boasts “an enviable national and international practice”, with particular concentration in the areas of premeditated advice and compliance. Clients include Newsweek and Business Objects. Lynne Hermle is “an excellent trial lawyer – clients and fellow lawyers love her”. She is head of the firm’s Silicon Valley employment group. Patricia Gillette is “top-tier”, according to one highprofile source. Her clients include financial institutions in the state, high-tech firms, hospitals, insurance companies, biotech companies and telecommunications companies.

Another “outstanding lawyer” is Pamela Hemminger from Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP. She has recently been involved in high-profile cases in the areas of disability discrimination, pregnancy discrimination, sexual harassment and the constitutionality of private sector applicant drug testing. The “superbly qualified” William Claster joins partner Hemminger in this chapter. Claster’s broad practice has seen him represent a defendant bank, which was successful at trial, in a wrongful discharge and race discrimination suit and acting for a restaurant chain in a class action alleging misclassification of managers and assistant managers as exempt employees. 

Labour and employment firm Littler Mendelson PC fields two “fantastic lawyers”. San Francisco’s Garry Mathiason is “outstanding” with a “great reputation”. Mathiason is adept at defending employers in complex wage and hour, and discrimination class action cases and counts American Airlines and Dow Chemicals among his clients. People also “hear many good things” about William Emanuel, who is based in Los Angeles. Emanuel has recently represented Lowe’s in NLRB cases, the Los Angeles Unified School District in the defence of a major labour arbitration involving the United Teachers-Los Angeles and assisted the district in defeating a multimillion dollar wage and hour class action filed by adult educators. 

A number of individuals put in strong performances and are sole representatives of their firms. Raymond Wheeler draws the spotlight onto Morrison & Foerster LLP and is a former head of their employment and labour law practice group. Wheeler “fights for his clients tooth and nail” and has represented companies in hundreds of arbitrations, injunctive actions, wrongful discharge suits, trade secrets and employee raiding litigation, and administrative proceedings. Competitors were also vocal in their support for the “very smart” Joel Krischer from Latham & Watkins LLP. Krischer is the national chair of the employment law group and represents employers in a broad range of state and federal employment matters. Fred Alvarez from Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati is a “prominent name” in the market and heads the firm’s employment law litigation practice. He also dedicates a proportion of his practice to strategic, preventive and compliance advice, and internal investigations. Clients include Chevron, Comcast and Google. 

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP’s Richard Simmons is “a big name” in California and further afield. One source noted, “everyone knows his book on California wage and hour law.” Jeffrey Berman is a “strong lawyer” from “strong firm” Sidley Austin LLP. He was a member of the legal team that successfully represented the employer in the landmark case of Foley v Interactive Data Corporation, before the California Supreme Court. James McDonald is from the labour and employment focused- firm Fisher & Phillips LLP. McDonald has a particular expertise relating to mental health issues in the workplace and is editor of the second edition of the treatise, ‘Mental and Emotional Injuries in Employment Litigation’.  

Deborah Saxe is the “biggest name in labour and employment” at Jones Day. Described to researchers as “a first-rate lawyer”, Saxe’s practice places an emphasis on employment discrimination and wage and hour litigation. She is also a trustee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. John Fox at Manatt Phelps & Phillips LLP is well known for his government experience, having served as executive assistant to the director of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) in the US Department of Labor. He has “an excellent reputation” and “is very good for corporate compliance work”. Chair of Fenwick & West LLP’s employment practices group, Victor Schachter, is described by one client as “truly excellent”. Schachter has represented employers in a broad cross-section of industries, including big names such as IBM and Siemens Business Communications. Schachter has served as an attorney with the National Labor Relations Board and writes extensively on all aspects of labour and employment law. James Adler serves as a neutral in employment disputes and generally represents employers in mediation. He was described to us as a “highly regarded” and “extremely capable” individual. 

Sole practitioner Steven Drapkin is “my go-to-guy for traditional labour law advice”, according to one client we spoke to. Drapkin recently acted as amicus curiae on behalf of defendant and respondent in the Murphy v Kenneth Cole Productions case in the California Supreme Court. Michael Lotito from Jackson Lewis LLP is “top-notch for preventive strategies”. He is chair of the firm’s management training practice group and a prolific speaker and writer in the field of workplace and labour law issues and events. Lotito is based in the San Francisco office. Munger Tolles & Olson LLP’s Glenn Pomerantz received praise from many high-profile sources for his skills in court – one source noting his “ability to see straight to the heart of the most complex of matters”. Pomerantz is best known for representing clients in the entertainment and media industries in employment disputes. 

Lastly we focus on Stephen Hirschfeld from Curiale Dellaverson Hirschfeld & Kraemer LLP. Hirschfeld has extensive experience counselling higher education institutions and has overseen internal investigations involving employee, student and faculty misconduct, faculty tenure issues, union organising, sexual harassment and wrongful termination matters.

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