Appellate

Our attorneys have handled a number of appeals and filed amicus briefs on behalf of clients at all levels of state and federal courts within California and the Ninth Circuit. Our attorneys’ diverse appellate experience includes successfully defending the district court’s entry of summary judgment against a single plaintiff alleging claims of race discrimination in Jones v. Bayer Healthcare LLC, 203 Fed. Appx. 590 (9th Cir. 2008) and claims of race discrimination and retaliation in Woods v. Bayer Healthcare LLC, 281 Fed. Appx. 677 (9th Cir. 2008), and successfully defending a trial court’s entry of judgment based on the application of the litigation privilege to the act of filing a mechanic’s lien in Mohammadian v. Neff Rental, Inc., 2008 WL 1839128 (Cal. App. 1 Dist.). Our attorneys have also prepared amicus briefs on behalf of California employers, including one on behalf of a California chip manufacturer dealing with Constitutional issues of comity arising out of interstate non-compete battles in the much publicized case Advanced Bionics Corp. v. Medtronic, Inc., 29 Cal.4th 697 (2002).

Consumer and Commercial Class Actions

Ongaro Burtt & Louderback LLP has a fast-growing consumer class action practice. Our attorneys have the experience, creativity, and solid business judgment to manage the most complex consumer class actions with our clients’ long-term interests in mind. We have represented both plaintiffs and defendants in state and federal court actions in California, Arizona, and Washington. Our class action attorneys specialize in state consumer protection statutes, unfair competition, false advertising, and the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act.
Link to Recent Consumer and Commercial Class Actions
Download Recent Commercial and Consumer Class Actions .pdf

Wage and Hour Class Actions

Wage and hour class and collective actions are still the suit du jour, and our attorneys continue to counsel clients on compliance with the twisted web of labor laws affecting companies across the country. When litigation ensues, we employ aggressive and often outside-the-box thinking to assess class dismissal, defeat conditional and class certification, craft dispositive motions to defeat or limit claims, fracture and create conflicts amongst putative class members, limit overall exposure and penalties, and settle efficiently and effectively where possible. When necessary, our wealth of trial experience serves our clients well before the jury and we are equipped to defend favorable verdicts on appeal.

Throughout this process we never forget our clients have a business to run. We work with our clients to plan and budget consistent with potential risk and exposure, develop a litigation strategy, hire subject matter experts, and control costs. When appropriate, we counsel and conduct workplace audits during litigation to limit exposure and help our clients avoid further class litigation.
Link to Recent Wage and Hour / Employment Class Actions
Download Recent Wage and Hour / Employment Class Actions .pdf

Commercial Litigation

Ongaro Burtt & Louderback LLP's attorneys have handled a wide variety of commercial and business disputes in state and federal courts involving unfair practices and trade regulation, fraud, misrepresentation, false advertising, civil RICO violations, and business torts. We are currently handling a number of financial institution cases concerning residential mortgage foreclosures, and have also prosecuted or defended dozens of cases involving breach of contract, claims for attorneys’ fees, partnership dissolution/receivership, fraudulent conveyance, trade libel, tortious interference, breach of fiduciary duty, involuntary dissolution, and violation of the California Corporations Code.

We have successfully represented our domestic and international corporate clients in a number of core industries, including technology (both software and hardware), investment partnerships, marketing, manufacturing, telecommunications, heavy equipment rental, and construction.

Our partners are also skilled at handling major commercial arbitrations, and have been appointed to serve as arbitrators on a number of occasions.

Employment Litigation and Counseling

Our partners have deep roots in some of the nation’s leading labor and employment defense firms, and we have collectively represented employers and supervisors in more than 200 single plaintiff and class action cases alleging every employment claim under the sun, including discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, and wage and hour violations. We understand the legal systems in which these laws and regulations are interpreted and enforced, and have a successful track record of narrowing issues through pleading challenges and disposing of entire cases through dispositive motion.

With a number of favorable trial verdicts under our belt, our attorneys have earned formidable reputations amongst California’s plaintiffs’ lawyers which invariably assists in controlling expectations. Our trial experience also helps us recognize fact patterns that warrant early resolution, and we assess settlement options early in each case and stick to our budgets throughout. Business leaders and owners trust us to handle their full slate of high-stakes litigation needs, from local agency charges to nationwide pattern and practice discrimination claims.

Clients also often turn to us for advice on day-to-day workplace issues, including the conduct of workplace investigations, workforce reductions, counseling on discipline and termination issues, and oversight of wage and hour audits. We have also represented both companies and executives on employment issues arising out of mergers and acquisitions, and have an active practice representing executives who require counsel to enforce their rights under employment agreements, compensation plans, and whistleblower statutes.

Product Liability

Our attorneys have experience defending product liability claims brought against the manufacturers of a variety of products, including firearms, industrial components, and machinery and components used in small aircraft. We also have extensive experience defending employers against toxic tort/personal injury claims filed by employees based on their alleged chemical exposure in the workplace. More recently, our partners’ substantial trial experience and firm’s lean-and-mean approach to handling litigation matters have led to the expansion of our products liability practice to include serving as a member of the national trial team selected to defend a series of high-risk, high profile wrongful death/toxic tort cases.

Trade Secret and Restrictive Covenants

Our partners have unrivaled experience protecting legitimate business interests and innovation across the country both in and out of the courtroom. We have successfully represented corporations and individuals at every stage of trade secret and employee mobility litigation, and have won the race to the courthouse when necessary to halt the actual or threatened theft of intellectual property or defend the right to compete fairly and put talented employees to work. We have defeated improvident requests for injunctive relief, achieved declaratory relief protecting our clients’ fundamental right to earn a living, and helped innovators defend against the anti-competitive practices of their disgruntled former employers who seek to impede fair competition through bogus trade secret allegations.

Our attorneys are also often able to bring their wealth of experience to bear in helping to formulate reasonable settlement strategies short of litigation. Our partners have a record of success in this area having handled more than one hundred matters involving the theft of trade secrets, solicitation of customers and employees, usurpation of corporation opportunities and duty of loyalty claims, breach of fiduciary duty, and interference with business relationships. We have, more recently, prosecuted and defended claims under the emerging federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

We also counsel our clients on trade secret protection programs, including the use of non-disclosure, inventions assignment, and restrictive covenant agreements, to help them protect their proprietary information and preserve fair competition to the fullest extent permitted by laws which vary significantly across the jurisdictions where our attorneys practice. On the flip side, we have represented a number of executives who require guidance on the enforceability and interpretation of agreements signed with their current and former employers.

• Meet our attorneys.