Janie Schulman is co-chair of the firm’s Employment and Labor Group where, for nearly 25 years, she has specialized in employment and trade secrets litigation and counseling. Partnering with clients to achieve their business goals, Ms. Schulman has developed expertise in employment law issues unique to many industries, such as financial services, high-tech, medical/life sciences, retail, and hospitality.
Ms. Schulman has litigated a number of complex lawsuits alleging misappropriation of trade secrets, employee and customer raiding, unfair competition, and breach of restrictive covenants. She obtained a seven-figure settlement for a logistics company in a trade secrets/computer hacking case and served as trial counsel for title and escrow companies in a multi-party employee and customer raiding action.
Whether in state or federal court, before an administrative agency, or in arbitration, Ms. Schulman also defends employers in disputes alleging wage and hour violations, SOX and other whistleblowing retaliation, wrongful discharge, sexual harassment, employee privacy, and employment discrimination. In one case, she was retained to convince a trial court to reverse a multimillion-dollar wrongful termination verdict: she succeeded and also convinced the Court of Appeal to affirm the reversal and sanction the opposition more than $40,000.
Ms. Schulman is not only a litigator but also an advisor who is intimately familiar with the many laws and regulations governing the employer-employee relationship. She regularly counsels clients on all aspects of employment law, including wage and hour compliance, trade secret protection, reductions in force, and disability and other leaves of absence. She advises on the employment law aspects of corporate and real estate transactions; negotiates and drafts employment agreements; audits, prepares, and revises forms and policies; and conducts on-site harassment and other training. Ms. Schulman advises clients on business immigration, with a focus on the government’s stepped-up worksite enforcement of the Immigration Reform and Control Act. She regularly writes and speaks on all aspects of employment law and is a contributing editor to Trade Secrets (Law Journal Press) and Whistleblowing: The Law of Retaliatory Discharge, Second Edition (BNA Books).
Ms. Schulman devotes substantial time to pro bono legal and community service. In 2001, she received the Los Angeles County Bar Association Honorable Benjamin Aranda III Outstanding Public Service Award and the Spirit of Hope Award from Being Alive. Ms. Schulman was the Founding President of the Silverlake Independent Jewish Community Center, is a Vice Chair of the Board of the Children’s Bureau, and is a Trustee of the Board of the Chandler School. For more than twenty years, she has provided pro bono representation to the Children’s Bureau and Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services.
Ms. Schulman earned her B.A. with distinction in 1983 from the University of California at Berkeley and her J.D. in 1987 from the Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, where she was elected to the Order of the Coif. She has been recognized as a leading attorney in employment and labor law by Best Lawyers in America (2012 – 2014) and is peer-review rated “AV Preeminent” by Martindale.com.