Message From the Chair

By Bryan Schwartz

Bryan Schwartz is the Chair of the State Bar of California’s Labor and Employment Law Section. He also serves on the boards of the California Employment Lawyers Association, the Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center, and the Foundation for Advocacy Inclusion and Resources (FAIR). His Oakland-based firm (www.BryanSchwartzLaw.com) represents employees in individual, class, and multi-plaintiff actions prosecuting discrimination, whistleblower, wage and hour, and other workers’ rights claims in federal and state court and a variety of administrative venues.

The State Bar of California’s executives are ready to separate from our Labor and Employment Law Section, along with the other Bar educational sections, which have been an integral part of the Bar’s structure and relationship with its members and the public for decades. However, the Section’s exceptional and dedicated volunteer leadership is committed to keeping our educational programs and other services running—these things our members have come to count on.

This Section is not just about getting our CLE credits, but about: developing relationships with other practitioners on both sides of the Bar; the open exchange of ideas about issues affecting all workplaces in California; working to help more litigation or potential litigation to resolve cooperatively; helping mentorship relationships to form (see https://mizrahilaw.com/mentor/); promoting diversity within the Bar; providing low-cost education to those members who might not be able to afford higher-cost, for-profit CLEs; and—with our new outreach effort (employmentlawaccess. com)—helping extend legal services to low-wage workers and small businesses who might not ordinarily have access to them.