Labor and Employment

Hill Farrer & Burrill LLP has been a leader in the field of labor and employment law for more than 60 years.  The firm’s Labor and Employment Department specializes exclusively in representing employers and management, providing clients with effective solutions to their needs.

Of particular value to clients, the firm’s expertise encompasses the full panoply of labor and employment claims and issues.  The firm’s breadth of experience includes union and employee relations, collective bargaining, employment litigation, harassment training and investigations, employee benefits, ERISA, health and safety regulations, wage and hour law, and defense of class actions.  Hill Farrer is one of a small number of firms that represent multi-employer associations in collective bargaining matters and employer trustees on joint labor-management trusts.  Hill Farrer attorneys also regularly advise clients concerning all aspects of labor and employment law and develop employment handbooks, policies, and agreements tailored to their clients.

The firm is known for its top-flight litigators and appellate attorneys who have successfully defended clients in both state and federal courts, as well as arbitration proceedings, throughout California and the United States.  The firm has developed an enviable record successfully defending claims for wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, as well as other employee claims.

The Labor and Employment Department also prides itself on a tradition of providing cutting edge approaches to the problems facing today’s employers.  Hill Farrer, for example, was one of the very first firms to strongly advocate the use of arbitration agreements as an effective tool to reduce the burden and expense of employment litigation.  Over the years, the firm has developed numerous arbitration policies for its clients and has a truly outstanding record of defending those policies in court whenever they have been challenged.

Hill Farrer has likewise taken its pioneering approach to the growing problem of class action litigation against employers.  Our approach and achievements in this area are set forth in more detail on our Class Action page.  Suffice it to say, however, the firm has employed a number of successful strategies that have been key to the defense of these types of cases.