I have moved to the law offices of Rains Lucia Stern St. Phalle & Silver, PC. My focus hasn’t changed; I’ve just joined an excellent group of labor and employment attorneys. See the Contact page for my updated information.
I have spent more than two decades litigating public sector labor and employment law, and government and constitutional law. One emphasis of my practice is on writs of administrative and ordinary mandate and appellate law, both of which are highly specialized fields that an ordinary litigation or trial attorney is not typically equipped to handle.
I am admitted to practice in the following jurisdictions: California, Oregon, Washington, United States Supreme Court, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States District Court for the Northern, Central, Eastern, and Southern Districts of California. I also serve as the Chair of the Character and Fitness Board of the Washington State Bar Association for its 2021-2022 term.
My typical clients are public employees who have undergone discipline or suffered job loss, as well as public employee unions experiencing labor relations difficulties with their public agency employers. Because public employment often involves nuanced constitutional and other government law issues, it is wise to retain the services of an attorney experienced in the public sector. I am also frequently contacted by other attorneys seeking my expertise, both in employment and government law cases and will handle their mandate and appellate matters. In that capacity, I may also represent cities, counties or other special districts.
I have served as a research attorney for the Los Angeles Superior Court, as an Assistant City Attorney for a number of Southern California cities, and have spent the majority of my career representing public employees. I thus have the unique perspective of seeing your specific problem from all angles: the employee’s view, what the public agency’s arguments are, and how a court will really see things. Since 2008, I have been certified as an Appellate Specialist by the California State Bar. This combination has garnered victories for my clients in some very difficult circumstances, resulting in awards of job reinstatement and back pay, orders to public agencies to comply with their agreements with unions, and quite a number of important published appellate decisions that have created new law, or refined and clarified current law.
Statutes of limitations are often very short for actions against public agencies, and there are special claims requirements that must first be exhausted. Call me for a free consultation.