Labor and employment attorneys specialize in a practice group that can impact all sectors, but labor-intensive work such as health care, hospitality, automotive and retail are major employment groups in Southern California, which supports demand for this niche.
The 25 largest labor and employment practice groups in Los Angeles County reported 691 total attorneys for the specialty in local offices, which included 270 partners.
In an era of hybrid and remote work, the labor and employment sector is one of the fastest-growing practice group areas. Employers and employees are facing new challenges daily that are complicated by regulatory changes at the local, state and national levels.
California’s health care minimum wage law, SB 525, was cited as one of the biggest factors that created a greater need for labor and employment work over the past year, according to Jonathan Brophy, co-managing partner of the Century City office of Seyfarth Shaw LLP and a labor and employment attorney. He said that the state legislature also enacted some of the most substantive changes to the Private Attorneys General Act in its 20-year history, which has led clients to seek guidance on the new provisions.
To quickly respond to these changes and others, the firm has created a team of attorneys and experts to address workplace disputes.
“Seyfarth has received strong demand for our new Cultural Flashpoints practice, a team of highly trained labor and employment lawyers, policy experts and former government insiders who can jump into the most fraught workplace conflicts and provide legal guidance and practical solutions, especially during this year’s contentious election cycle,” said Brophy.
Seyfarth was the top-ranked firm on the list of the largest labor and employment practice groups in Los Angeles with 80 attorneys, which accounts for more than half of its local attorney headcount. The firm, which recently recognized its 50th year in Los Angeles, added a notable three-lawyer team from Morgan Lewis and two-lawyer team from Hunton Andrews Kerth to its L.A. labor and employment department.
