The Employment Law Summit: Los Angeles

Kevin currently serves as Associate General Counsel, Patents for Meta, where he has pioneered new ways to increase patent submissions from underrepresented inventor groups at Meta. He also counsels on legal issues related to the development of augmented and virtual reality products, including the Meta Quest line of VR products. Kevin currently resides in Southern California. His hobbies include golf and teaching his four-year-old son how to surf.

Julie Isen is Senior Corporate Counsel for Apria Healthcare LLC, under the Owens & Minor umbrella. She works in employment law and litigation and sometimes dips her toes into the managed care contracting world. In her day-to-day, she is the first point of contact for HR when potential issues arise, handles pre-litigation claims, and manages claims and outside counsel when lawsuits are filed. Prior to Apria, she was in-house counsel handling litigation and employment law for Freedom Forever, a residential solar company. She spent 9 years as a litigator in private practice before going in-house.

Kim is an experienced employment attorney and HR/business professional with a demonstrated history of both plaintiff and defense work as well as practical HR experience. She is currently Employment Law Counsel for Medtronic where she advises on California employment law, handbook and policy drafting, management and employee training, M&A corporate due diligence and overall litigation and case management. She also partners closely with internal clients on issues arising during the entire employment lifecycle including hiring/onboarding, workplace investigations, workplace culture issues, ID&E and terminations. Prior to Medtronic, Kim worked in Big Law for several years where she counseled clients of varying size from startups to multinational companies in myriad industries including aviation, healthcare, tech and retail. She also earned her trial stripes as a young lawyer by working for two preeminent boutique trial firms in Los Angeles. Kim has been recognized by various associations and publications including The Best Lawyers in America© (Ones to Watch), The National Black Lawyers (Top 100 / Top 40 under 40) and Thomson Reuters’ Super Lawyers Magazine (Rising Star). Prior to her legal career, she was a human resources manager for a major retailer in California and spent several years in corporate retail management.

Deborah Butera is General Counsel & Secretary of Global Infrastructure Solutions Inc. (GISI), a multinational provider of construction management, engineering and consulting, and sustainability and impact services. Founded in 2016 by leading construction industry professionals, GISI facilitates ownership transition for high quality firms, allowing them to take advantage of our experience, access to capital, and industry expertise. Through the dedicated efforts of our 14,000 employees, GISI generates annual revenue of approximately $13 billion and enjoys project backlog of more than $22 billion.

Prior to GISI, Ms. Butera was Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary at The Kleinfelder Group, Inc., a multinational engineering and consulting firm, for five years and Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc., a publicly traded multinational defense engineering, manufacturing, and critical infrastructure security solutions provider, for five years. Ms. Butera spent seven years as a law firm partner in private practice in Atlanta, where she served as Chair of the Atlanta Bar Association’s Construction Law Section and served on the Board of the Atlanta Bar Association. Ms. Butera was recognized by the San Diego Business Journal as General Counsel of the Year in 2015. She is admitted to the Bars of Ohio and Georgia and registered in-house counsel in California.

Rogers Joseph O’Donnell shareholder Dennis Huie represents and advises employers in connection with wage and hour claims in addition to a wide range of other employment and labor issues impacting his clients and the industries they serve including hospitality, retail and service. He defends employers against lawsuits filed by single and multiple plaintiffs as well as in class actions and other types of representative actions including actions filed under the Private Attorney General Act of 2004. Mr. Huie represents employers in state and federal court and before administrative agencies, such as the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement and the Department of Labor, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Civil Rights Department (fka Department of Fair Employment and Housing). He speaks on these issues at conferences for attorneys, business owners, human resource professionals and risk managers.

JoAnna Brooks brings clients a wealth of experience in class action litigation, having handled over 80 class actions in California over the past decade.

JoAnna’s practice focuses on advising clients on employment best practices and providing defense counsel in a variety of cases, including those involving harassment, discrimination, breach of contract, wage and hour disputes, and unfair business practices. JoAnna also provides in-person interactive training for clients.

JoAnna’s experience includes defending clients through trial, as well as representing clients before the California Labor Commissioner, California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board and California Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, showcasing her comprehensive approach to client advocacy.

Ms. Kennedy defends companies, managers and executives in employment class actions and Private Attorney General Act (“PAGA”) cases concerning disputes over the classification of workers, overtime pay, payment of wages, and meal and rest breaks, as well as single and multiple plaintiff unlawful harassment, discrimination, and retaliation cases.

Mindful of business goals and purposes, Ms. Kennedy regularly helps companies to comply with employment laws and to develop compliant policies and practices for the recruitment and hiring of employees, exemptions from overtime pay, compensation, leaves of absence, workplace accommodations, workplace privacy, discipline, and separation of employees. She frequently drafts or reviews employment agreements and policies as well as compensation plans.

Utilizing her previous in-house experience at publicly traded, technology companies, Ms. Kennedy regularly provides counsel to companies on employment issues in mergers and acquisitions and to executives on employment transitions.

Ms. Kennedy represents businesses in audits and actions brought by the U.S. Department of Labor, the California Labor Commissioner, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Department of Fair Employment and Housing.

Ms. Kennedy successfully defends companies and negotiates settlements in Americans with Disabilities Act and California disability access cases, specifically with respect to allegedly physical access barriers and non-compliant websites. Ms. Kennedy defends businesses sued for allegedly violating federal and California fair housing laws.

Ms. Kennedy’s clients include a wide variety of companies ranging from closely held to large, publicly traded companies hailing from a broad spectrum of industries, including semiconductor, senior home care, automotive, real estate, hospitality, medical and professional services.

Elaisha Nandrajog represents employers in a wide range of matters in state and federal court as well as before administrative agencies, providing preventative counsel that helps successfully resolve litigious matters. She has experience defending companies in single-plaintiff and multi-plaintiff cases against claims of wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and failure to accommodate. Her work involves complex wage and hour class actions as well as representative actions brought under California’s Private Attorneys General Act.

In addition to her litigation practice, Elaisha advises employers and managers on hiring, screening, retention, and termination practices as well as various wage and hour compliance issues. She is also involved in the development and review of company policies to identify risk and ensure compliance.

Elaisha also provides due diligence review of target companies in mergers and acquisitions and has conducted internal employment investigations for public and private employers throughout the Bay Area. Her commercial litigation experience includes work on breach of contract, fraud, and unfair competition and interference claims.

Jennifer Coleman is a trial lawyer with an active practice in intellectual property, labor and employment, and complex litigation cases. Her experience includes patent damages, trade secret misappropriation, remediation, single plaintiff and class action wage and hour controversies, unfair competition and employee mobility matters.

Jen also handles employment disputes involving claims of wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, and retaliation; leaves of absences; employment policies and procedures; employee discipline; hiring practices; workplace violence; and fraud relating to complex financial transactions. She regularly advises and counsels employers of all sizes on various day-to-day legal issues.

Jason Kearnaghan is a seasoned labor and employment attorney with 24 years of experience. He is a partner in Sheppard Mullin’s Los Angeles office and leads the firm’s Labor and Employment Practice Group. Jason represents employers in state and federal courts with respect to all facets of employment law, with a significant portion of his practice devoted to the defense of complex wage and hour class and representative action litigation. Jason is a trial attorney who has had great success defending his clients in court. He also represents clients before state and federal administrative agencies and has experience representing employers in union negotiations, organizing campaigns, elections, union grievance proceedings, and unfair labor proceedings. Jason served in the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps as a trial attorney in criminal prosecution.

Robert focuses on defending employers in administrative complaints, arbitration, and litigation. He has successfully defended employers in matters involving FEHA, FLSA, PAGA, EEOC, DOL, DLSE, Title VII, OSHA, class actions, and workplace sexual assaults. Robert also provides advice, counsel, and auditing services that have successfully identified potential liabilities and resolved those issues. In addition, he provides risk management counseling, including training for supervisors and employees on multiple labor and employment issues.

Robert started his career as a Los Angeles County public defender, which provided him with substantial courtroom experience. He has spent more than 20 years representing private individuals and corporations in various fields, including but not limited to general litigation and employment and labor law.

Susannah is a highly-skilled, experienced labor and employment lawyer with significant experience in a range of employment and labor matters. Her expertise in wage and hour and discrimination disputes is particularly praised by clients and peers. Susannah also conducts independent investigations on behalf of companies into high-profile allegations of employee misconduct, in addition to her work on enforcement of non-compete agreements, background check procedures, employee discipline and termination, and related matters. She has a notable track record of defending and representing clients in a diverse array of industries including the technology, telecommunications, airline, staffing, financial services, technology, and private equity sectors. The Legal 500 recommended Susannah as a Next Generation Lawyer in 2021 for her work in labor and employment disputes.

Jordan Grotzinger is the longstanding Co-Chair of the Los Angeles Litigation practice. He is a trial lawyer and trusted problem solver focusing on trade secret law and challenging business disputes, often in the entertainment space. Jordan represents companies across various industries in trade secret litigation and counseling matters, and has represented some of the most significant entertainment and media companies in high-profile litigation. Jordan also founded and hosts Greenberg Traurig’s Trade Secret Law Evolution Podcast, a popular podcast on trade secret law since 2019, which offers monthly updates and takeaways on the latest developments and trends in this area.

Ashley M. Farrell Pickett defends companies in complex employment class and representative litigation in both state and federal courts throughout the country. She has deep experience representing large and small employers alike at all stages of high stakes litigation—from pre-trial demands through trial or arbitration, settlement, and on appeal.

Jacqueline Beaumont focuses her practice on the representation of clients in wage-and-hour class action and PAGA disputes, complex employment matters, wrongful termination, disability, and discrimination claims, and all areas of employment litigation and advising. Her results include successful jury and bench trial verdicts, summary judgment, injunctions and dismissals. She has been recognized in Super Lawyers as one of Orange County’s “Top 25 Up-And-Coming Attorneys,” as a “Women in Business” nominee in the Orange County Business Journal, a “Woman Making a Difference” by the County of Orange, and has been in various leadership positions within the Orange County Bar Association. Her practice at Call & Jensen, a 40-year old California trial firm, is motived by a desire to represent clients strategically to address business needs.

Jasmin Rinna is currently Director, Assistant General Counsel and Head of Employee Relations for Relativity Space, Inc., a NewSpace commercial rocket start-up that launched a 3D printed (additive manufactured) space rocket in March 2023. Ms. Rinna oversees employment, litigation and compliance matters for the company while also overseeing the company’s Employee Relations team. Prior to joining Relativity Space, Ms. Rinna was Senior Employment Counsel for Snap, Inc. Prior to Snap., Inc., Ms. Rinna spent nine years as Senior Counsel for American Honda Motor, Co., Inc. (“Honda”) where she oversaw employment, litigation and helped support a variety of corporate matters. While at Honda, Ms. Rinna also led regional cross-functional projects and supported Honda’s North American Risk Management and Ethics and Compliance functions at an executive level.
Prior to going in-house, Ms. Rinna was trial attorney and litigator for close to a decade, practicing both employment and business litigation/arbitration in California and New York. Ms. Rinna holds a J.D. (cum laude) from Syracuse University College of Law and an undergraduate degree in Political Science (and Law and Society) from the University of California, San Diego.
When she is not lawyering, she loves spending time with her family outdoors, which includes being mom to two wonderful daughters (ages 5 and 1).

Cory is a partner in the Vorys Orange County office and a member of the labor and employment group. He represents employers in a variety of industries on a wide range of employment matters, including the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, the Family and Medical Act Leave, Title VII, state anti-discrimination and retaliation laws, as well as noncompetition, Trade Secret Law and other restrictive covenants.
Cory also provides training and counseling on daily workplace issues, including hiring decisions and disciplinary issues, employment agreements, handbooks, workplace policies and noncompetition, nonsolicitation and confidentiality agreements.

Madeleine (“Madi”) Lee litigates a wide variety of employment matters, with emphasis on class action, representative (California Private Attorneys General Act/PAGA), and collective action defense. She implements class/PAGA defense strategies in a variety of industry contexts (e.g., manufacturing, consumer products, transportation, communications, technology, agriculture, retail, infrastructure, hospitality, government contractors), including those involving unionized workforces. She partners with employers to develop pragmatic workplace strategies to manage employment-related risk as to high-stakes class litigation, including meal period and rest break compliance, regular rate calculations, and arbitration agreements in today’s unprecedented business environment. Madi is also experienced in comprehensive employment litigation, training, and counseling of businesses involving employment discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination, whistleblowing, leaves of absence, accommodation, reductions in force/terminations, and emerging, cutting-edge principles of law.

Ms. Goodfellow joined Quorum in 2022 with over 25 years of experience in the hospitality and food and beverage industries. With a passion for creating a people-first culture, she oversees the recruitment, labor relations, legal compliance, benefit management and training functions for Quorum and its portfolio. Previously, Ms. Goodfellow held training and management positions in her long tenure at a multi-unit and multi-state restaurant company ultimately supporting over 60 locations for over 8,000 team members annually where she was responsible for all HR verticals. She earned her Senior Professional in Human Resources certification in 2018 and has worked diligently to apply this fundamental knowledge into her HR practice supporting high growth initiatives and leading HR technology implementation projects. Ms. Goodfellow holds a BA from the University of California San Diego and the Design Institute of San Diego.

Sanjesh Sharma is Senior IP Counsel at Johnson & Johnson Vision, where she manages all aspects of intellectual property for the company’s Refractive Surgery and Laser Cataract Surgery product lines, including managing domestic and international patent portfolios, litigation support, opposition practice, product clearances, due diligence for asset acquisitions and licensing, as well as copyright and trademark compliance.  Before moving in-house, she worked at various national and global law firms, focusing mainly on patent and trademark litigation, licensing, due diligence, and counseling involving a wide range of technologies, including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and consumer electronics.

Sanjesh received her undergraduate degree in Microbiology from University of California, San Diego, and her law degree from Loyola Law School.  She currently serves as a member of the Executive Committee and Chair of the Patent Interest Group for the IP Section of the California State Bar.  She regularly speaks on patents and in-house practice, and has been named Rising Star in Intellectual Property by Super Lawyers.

Christina Yates is currently the associate general counsel at Gemological Institute of America, Inc. (GIA) where she focuses on intellectual property, technology, litigation, working with GIA’s laboratory staff and law enforcement to return lost and stolen diamonds to their rightful owners.

Prior to joining GIA, Ms. Yates spent five years with DLA Piper in its Intellectual Property and Technology group counseling clients on trademark and copyright issues, and strategizing with clients and advising them on domestic and global trademark portfolios.  She also represented clients in state and federal court, as well as in USPTO actions.

Karin Bohmholdt is Co-Chair of Greenberg Traurig’s Los Angeles Litigation Practice with primary focus on Financial Service and Fiduciary Litigation and Appellate Practice in both the state and federal courts. Following a clerkship with the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Ms. Bohmholdt obtained experience in a wide variety of litigation and appellate matters, including real estate disputes, financial services and banking litigation, trust and estate matters, class actions, employment matters, securities law, ADA matters, public entity representation, and Federal False Claims actions.

Li Zhu is a Partner at Robins Kaplan LLP in the Intellectual Property & Technology Litigation Group. With over a decade of experience, he litigates high-stakes patent, trade secret, and technology disputes for Fortune 500 companies and startups in industries like A.I., software, biotech, consumer electronics, and medical devices. He also has deep expertise in IP licensing, from identifying value in portfolios to leading international campaigns across jurisdictions, including Germany and China.

His fierce advocacy extends to those unable to afford legal services, providing pro bono representation in state and immigration courts. His proudest victories include obtaining asylum for a Cameroonian immigrant persecuted for political activism and defending an abused mother and her child under the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction.

Francis Lam currently serves as Vice President & Deputy General Counsel at OC Sports & Entertainment, LLC (OCSE) where he plays a pivotal role in setting and steering legal strategies for OCSE and its affiliates, including the Anaheim Ducks Hockey Club, San Diego Gulls Hockey Club, The Rinks Foundation, and Anaheim Arena Management. In his role, Francis oversees litigation and regulatory response as well as legal affairs for the organization’s employment, labor, security, guest relations, safety, and risk management functions.

Francis began his legal career at Sidley Austin. He has since held in-house positions with Lyft, Disney, and Bird Rides, accumulating invaluable insights into the legal intricacies of diverse industries ranging from technology to transportation to sports and entertainment.