2025 Labor and Employment Law Pro Bono Achievement Award Recipient: Galen Arkush Ages

Galen is Senior Employment Counsel at 10x Genomics, a biotechnology company that is fueling scientific discovery in the fields of biology and medicine.  At 10x, which has approximately 1,300 employees across 23 countries, Galen advises on every stage of the employee life cycle from recruitment through separation, leads special projects, and manages disputes and litigation.  He is 10x’s subject matter expert for employment law and employee benefits, and he collaborates cross-functionally on equity-based compensation, executive compensation, and privacy.

Previously, as Deputy County Counsel for the County of Santa Clara, Galen advised and represented the County on the COVID-19 response, labor/employment matters, and other legal issues.  Before that, as Staff Attorney (and previously Skadden Fellow) with Legal Aid at Work, Galen provided free legal services to low-income clients at numerous Workers’ Rights Clinic sites across California, trained law students, developed legal resources used by worker advocates, and spearheaded the Clinic’s 100th anniversary expansion to bring services to underserved communities.  Prior to Legal Aid at Work, Galen clerked for U.S. District Judge Haywood S. Gilliam (N.D. Cal.).  Before law school, he worked in international affairs and as a paralegal.

Galen holds a B.A. from UC Berkeley, where he graduated with Highest Distinction and received the Departmental Citation Award for Development Studies.  As a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar, he earned his M.A. in U.S.-Mexico Studies from La Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, graduating with Honors.  Galen holds a J.D. and Social Justice Certificate from Berkeley Law, where he received multiple academic awards as well as the Victor Van Bourg Scholarship, and served in several leadership roles–including Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Berkeley Journal of Employment & Labor Law and Co-Director of both the Workers’ Rights Clinic and the Wage Claims Clinic.

In his free time, Galen is a volunteer supervising attorney for the Workers’ Rights Clinic at Legal Aid at Work, an organization he has supported for nearly 15 years.  He also mediates disputes involving his daughters, Sage (7) and Amelie (5), challenging him to address novel legal issues—including the definition of “dessert night” and whether a parent’s remedial powers extend to mandating a reasonable bedtime.

The Labor and Employment Section’s recognition of Galen is a testament to his exceptional commitment to providing hundreds of hours of pro bono labor and employment legal assistance to those in need through Legal Aid at Work | Workers’ Rights Clinic, and his dedication to advancing justice and equity in our community for low-income and other vulnerable populations. Galen’s culturally competent legal assistance has played an instrumental part in the solution of providing free, high-quality legal services for people who, because of social and/or economic barriers, cannot afford a lawyer. Galen has also given back to the next generation of students he has supervised at the Clinic bringing outstanding leadership, mentorship, and professionalism.