February 27, 2023 By: Leah Lively and Jack Darrington All employers should be aware of the recent decision by the United States Supreme in Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc. v. Hewitt dealing with exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). The Hewitt court held that a well-compensated employee paid a daily rate, rather than a fixed weekly or monthly salary, was not exempt from the FLSA and its rules regarding overtime pay. Helix Energy Solutions paid Michael Hewitt a daily rate ranging from $963 to $1342 per day. Hewitt earned over $200,000 annually...
Buchalter
Offices
Overview
Buchalter is a full-service business law firm that has been teaming with clients for eight decades, providing legal counsel at all stages of their growth and evolution, and helping them meet the many legal challenges and decisions they face. Our clients are engaged in a diverse global economy governed by complex laws and regulations, and they trust us as advisers and business partners because we are involved in their world. They rely on our forward-thinking to help them resolve problems before they arise.
At Buchalter, we practice in that spirit.
Our founding principle-providing our clients with the best business solutions-continues to lead us. We value each client relationship, recognizing that their success is our success. Our overarching goal-getting the best results for the client in a timely manner with sensitivity to cost-has engendered client loyalty, and the firm has grown from that loyalty.
Our lawyers are accessible, resourceful, skillful and adept at responding to change. Our technological capabilities keep case law and rule changes at our fingertips and client communications current, enabling us to create efficient, superior outcomes.
We strongly believe that technology is a tool that furthers the practice of law and have used that belief to develop a cutting edge platform for our firm. We use a meshed (NVPN) network to facilitate work among offices, Cisco VoIP telephony and Video-over-IP conferencing. Sharing documents is seamless through FileSite, which is also utilized to create our Client Extranets. To support our litigation matters, we use Concordance and Opticon, as well as LiveNote and Sanction. Unlike many firms, we have the capacity to process e-Discovery in-house, reducing client costs.
Buchalter lawyers are also active members of the communities in which they live and work. Leadership is a value the founding partners practiced and passed on to the current generation of attorneys. Our lawyers sit on the boards of prominent organizations, teach and lecture frequently. We actively participate in many associations and groups including the Public Law Center, San Francisco Legal Aid Society, Practicing Law Institute, California State Bar Association, the Los Angeles County Bar Association and the LACBA Domestic Violence Project, the Sojourner Center, the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Phoenix and many others.
Buchalter is consistently ranked among the leading law firms by Chambers and Partners, Best Lawyers, The Daily Journal and the Los Angeles Business Journal. It is also ranked among the leading firms nationally by American Legal Media and the National Law Journal.
Buchalter's commitment to reflecting and enhancing the rich diversity of the clients and communities in which we practice is more than eight decades strong. The firm's diversity of attorneys and staff provides clients with a greater array of creative talent and alternative thinking, benefiting all.
Areas of Practice
Professionals
Partners
Valerie Bantner Peo
Shareholder
Peter G. Bertrand
Shareholder
Faith K. Bruins
Shareholder
Shawn M. Christianson
Shareholder
Matthew S. Covington
Shareholder
Jason Croft
Shareholder
Kirsten J. Day
Shareholder
Denise H. Field
Shareholder
Manuel Fishman
Shareholder
Alicia Guerra
Shareholder
Benjamin M. Heuer
Shareholder
Jeffrey Judd
Shareholder
Natacha Kolb
Shareholder
Jenni Krengel
Shareholder
Monica Mazzei
Shareholder
Sharon Morrissey
Shareholder
Gwenneth O'Hara
Shareholder
Mitchell J. Olejko
Partner Emeritus
Jay L. Paxton
Shareholder
Josiah R. Reid
Shareholder
Nora Sheriff
Shareholder
Thomas M. Sherwood
Shareholder
Douglas C. Straus
Shareholder
Marlene J. Williams
Shareholder
Dylan W. Wiseman
Shareholder
James B. Wright
Partner Emeritus
Glenn P. Zwang
ShareholderAssociates
Alexander Davis
Attorney
Lotus Fung
Attorney
David A. Goldstein
Attorney
Samir A. Hafez
Attorney
Braeden J. Mansouri
Attorney
Christopher Parker
Attorney
Lillian Rafii
AttorneyOf Counsel
Jean L. Bertrand
Of Counsel
Brandon Carr
Senior Counsel
Jeanine M. Donohue
Of Counsel
John Epperson
Of Counsel
Bukola Mabadeje
Senior Counsel
Julian (Pete) Mack
Of Counsel
Randall L. Manvitz
Senior Counsel
Peter W. McGaw
Of Counsel
Tiffany F. Ng
Senior Counsel
Cecily Anne O’Regan
Of Counsel
Melissa Richards
Of Counsel
C. Jean Ryan
Of Counsel
Steven H. Winick
Special Counsel
Emily Yip
Special CounselArticles
Update on San Francisco’s Treatment of Vacant Properties
February 17, 2023 By: Alexander Davis and Manuel Fishman Update This article is partly a republication of a Client Alert that was issued on December 6, 2022 titled “San Francisco’s Commercial Vacancy Tax.” Readers who have already read the original article can simply read ahead to the sections labeled “Update.” Commercial Vacancy Tax In March 2020, the voters of San Francisco approved Proposition D, also known as the Commercial Vacancy Tax...
Press
Buchalter to Sponsor UC Irvine Law School’s 2023 Moot Court Competition
Buchalter is sponsoring this year’s moot court competition at the UC Irvine Law School. The event will take place on Friday, March 24, 2023, from 3PM-5PM. The case before the court centers on the dismissal of Dr. Helen Croix from her tenured employment at Aguefort University. After posting unsound medical advice on her private blog, an unaffiliated doctor used Dr. Croix’s advice in treatment, and his patient died. During the wrongful death suit that followed Dr. Croix and Aguefort University received widespread negative publicity. The University received complaints, including a strongly worded letter from several alumni condemning Dr. Croix. The Dean sent Dr...
President and Chief Executive Officer Adam Bass Quoted in the Los Angeles Business Journal
Firms Navigate Labor Market in Flux By Zane Hill January 30, 2023 A few months ago, there weren’t enough associate- and partner-level attorneys to go around much of the Los Angeles-area law firm market. Lately, the market for associates has cooled off a bit, while partners remain competitive among firms — for now, that is. “We tried to dial it back and maintain fiscal discipline because we believed this was a temporary situation and that the market would swing back,” said Adam Bass, president and chief executive of downtown-based Buchalter LLP. “I don’t think we anticipated it would swing back as quickly as it did, but our estimation was correct...
Blogs
Chemical Law & Prop 65 Blog
Chemical Law & Prop 65
