"Justice is a level playing field where the least
powerful are just as entitled to rights and benefits
as the most powerful. It is the ideal that informs all
of my work."
Kelly M. Dermody, Partner and Chair of the
Employment Practice Group
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"One of the nation's premier plaintiffs' firms."
American Lawyer
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"Representing the best qualities of the plaintiffs' bar."
The National Law Journal
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"Their effective and caring advocacy for clients has earned Lieff Cabraser its first-class reputation."
The Daily Journal
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Super Lawyers Nationwide
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Employment Law
Eliminating workplace discrimination, ensuring fair pay, and protecting retirement savings
Lieff Cabraser has a strong tradition of fighting for employee rights across America. Our employment cases challenge (a) discrimination based on employees' race, color, national origin, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation or disability; (b) wage violations, including failure to pay overtime, break time, or vacation time; and (c) misuse of employees' retirement benefits.
Successfully challenging unlawful employment practices
Lieff Cabraser employment attorneys have successfully challenged discrimination, where female or minority employees are not hired, are paid less than their white male counterparts, or are given fewer opportunities to advance at the company; policies of requiring hourly workers to report to work early, stay late, or work through breaks for no pay (off-the-clock work); policies classifying employees as salaried who should have been classified as hourly workers and received overtime pay; and other employment-related claims including under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). In total, we have recovered over $500 million in damages for our clients in dozens of employment cases.
Our goal is not only to recover compensation for employees and job applicants who have suffered legal violations but also to press employers to comply with the law. We are proud to have assisted our clients in ending unfair practices and inspiring industries to improve recruitment, hiring, promotion, and pay practices and other aspects of employment.
Employment law expertise across markets and an outstanding reputation
Lieff Cabraser litigates employment cases spanning a wide variety of industries, including retail, medical, insurance, technology, banking, financial services, security, and many more industries. Commenting on the work of Lieff Cabraser in one employment case, the Court stated "the results achieved here could be nothing less than described as exceptional" and praised "the efforts of outstanding counsel."
U.S. News and Best Lawyers selected Lieff Cabraser as a 2013 national "Law Firm of the Year" in the category of Employment Law – Individuals. U.S. News and Best Lawyers ranked firms nationally in 80 different practice areas based on extensive client feedback and evaluations from 70,000 lawyers nationwide. Only one law firm in each practice area receives the “Law Firm of the Year” designation.
Benchmark Plaintiff, a guide to the nation’s leading plaintiffs’ firms, has ranked our employment practice group a Tier 1 national ranking, its highest ranking. The Legal 500 guide to the U.S. legal profession has also recognized Lieff Cabraser as having one of the leading plaintiffs’ employment practices in the nation for the past three years. The legal weekly The Recorder selected our employment group as one of the top plaintiffs’ employment practice groups in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2011 and 2012.
Kelly M. Dermody chairs the firm’s employment practice group and leads the firm’s employment cases. The Daily Journal has recognized her as one of the top labor and employment lawyers in California, as one of the “Top Women Litigators in California,” and Best Lawyers and Super Lawyers have repeatedly recognized Ms. Dermody as one of top lawyers in San Francisco and Northern California. In 2007, California Lawyer magazine awarded Ms. Dermody its prestigious California Lawyer Attorney of the Year (CLAY) Award.