Our employment law practice is divided into two parts.
First, we are litigators. We represent clients in employment disputes, advocating for them in courts and before government agencies.
We litigate matters such as wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, denial of medical leave, denial of pregnancy leave, failure to accommodate disability or pregnancy, denial of kin care, FMLA and CFRA violations, unpaid wages, unpaid overtime, meal and rest period violations, unpaid commissions, unpaid bonuses, breach of contract, unreimbursed expenses, improper vacation handling, and unlawful wage deductions, among other claims.
We litigate cases vigorously and ethically, always with the client’s best interests in mind. When it makes sense to informally resolve and settle a matter, we let our clients know. When it is better for them to keep fighting, we take that route. Our goal is always to get the best possible result for our clients and to protect their interests, both legally and practically.
Second, we are counselors. We provide advice and counseling to people and companies.
Our individual employee clients run the gamut from CEOs and other senior executives (including with regard to public companies) to general counsel, regional and division managers, high-volume sales associates, unit-level managers, and others.
For these individual clients, we commonly are asked to review documents before they sign them, including hire packages, severance packages, release agreements, non-competes, non-solicit agreements, or other compensation and employment related agreements. We sometimes perform this work behind the scenes, advising them on negotiating strategy and offering an analysis of how fair and legally compliant (or not) the presented agreement really is. Other times, we take a more visible role and handle the direct negotiations, ourselves, depending on client need and preference.
We also advise companies of all sizes, from the Fortune 100 to small businesses. Our company clients cover a wide range of industries, including apparel, restaurant, medical, retail, schools, churches, cosmetics, educational services, manufacturing, and health care, among others. For our company clients, we act as their all-purpose employment counsel. That includes preparation and review of a wide range of documents, including handbooks, employee agreements, severance packages, and the like. We also conduct employee investigations and training sessions, and provide spot advice as urgent employment situations arise.
We have a passion for helping our clients understand and comply with employment laws. Working with companies who want to do the right thing when it comes to employment law is a great way to protect those companies, and it also helps the dedicated employees who work for them.
Please call or email us for a free, initial consultation! We have streamlined the intake process to focus on the important issues that may affect whether we can take on your matter. We will talk to you by phone first. After that, we may ask you to come in to our office. In any event, we do not represent you until you complete the intake process, including signing our engagement letter.
Depending on the type of matter, payment structures can vary.
For some clients, we charge an hourly rate for our time. We bill sensibly and leanly and are aware that legal services are not cheap, and that clients expect value for the money they pay to lawyers. We enjoy helping our clients not only navigate the wide range of employment laws, but working with them synergistically to craft the best legal and practical solutions possible. We believe this is why many of our clients come to us as referrals from our other current and former clients.
In other matters, it makes more sense to represent clients on a contingency fee basis. In such cases, where clients are not in a position to pay for legal services up front, we are paid for our time only if we succeed in obtaining a recovery (settlement or judgment) for our clients. Apart from fees, there are also necessary costs in litigation. While costs ultimately are the client’s responsibility, our firm may choose to advance certain litigation costs and will be reimbursed from what we recover on the client’s behalf. Our engagement letter spells out the terms in detail.