Concepcion has no application in many employment cases

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About a week ago, on behalf of Consumer Attorneys of California ("CAOC"), I filed an amicus curiae brief in support of the plaintiff in Brown v. Ralphs Grocery Company.  In Brown, after oral argument, the Court of Appeal requested supplemental briefs on the question of whether AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion (April 27, 2011) precludes the Gentry v. Superior Court (2007) 42 Cal.4th 443 defense to certain arbitration agreements.  After determining that the parties had not already addressed the issues, CAOC presented several bases for rejecting the contention that Concepcion overruled Gentry, including the fact that a bar on class actions violates the National Labor Relations Act's protection of concerted action by employees to improve their wages and working conditions.  You can view the brief viat the Spiro Moss website here.

Other attorneys at Spiro Moss contributed to the brief, including Dennis F. Moss (who conceived of the argument involving the NLRA), Gregory N. Karasik, and J. Mark Moore.  David M. Arbogast of Arbogast & Berns LLP also contributed to CAOC's brief.

Good things sometimes come to those who wait (or wait and work at it)

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Next week is the beginning of a new chapter in my legal career.  I will begin work at Spiro Moss LLP, a boutique class action firm in West Los Angeles.  I have known about Spiro Moss for many years.  Their reputation as skilled and ethical attorneys is unquestioned.  Both sides of the bar speak highly of them.  They've made their presence known at the appellate level for many years as well, with decisions such as Ramirez v. Yosemite Water Co., Inc., 20 Cal. 4th 785 (1999) and, more recently, a collection of cases pending before the California Supreme Court.

I thank them for their vote of confidence, and I am looking forward to the opportunity to continue my prefessional development at a firm where all of the attorneys are highly experienced litigators (and some are regular readers of this blog - I suppose this means that they'll want breaking news first).