Employer defense begins with a good offense in San Diego and across the State of California.  Unfortunately, California has the harshest laws, procedures, requirements and exposures for employers in all of the United States.  Preparing our employer clients and defending employers in San Diego and throughout California in the inevitable disputes and challenges that arise is one of the central areas of focus for the Watkins Firm.

3 Key Takeaways about the Value of an Employer Defense Attorney in San Diego and Throughout California:

• California is the hardest state in which to be an employer.  Between our laws, regulatory compliance, PAGA actions, state labor commission, and plaintiff’s attorneys, employers face daily challenges.
• The best defense for any California employer is a good offense.  This begins with knowledge about all employer requirements in San Diego and throughout California.  Up-to-date employee handbooks, and a review of existing policies and procedures, employment review strategies, disciplinary procedures, documentation and termination can prevent disputes and expensive lawsuits.
• The Watkins Firm has 40+ years of experience representing, advising, educating, and defending San Diego and California employers.

Knowledge is Power

California and San Diego employer defense begins with a good offense.  The old saying “knowledge is power” is especially true for California employers.  However, our State makes it exceptionally challenging to not only stay abreast of new changes coming down the road, but to properly fulfill all existing federal, state and local laws, ordinances and regulations.  The Watkins Firm provides a strong degree of support to our clients no matter where they are in the life cycle of their business.

We work to make sure employee handbooks and our client’s policies and procedures are regularly reviewed and updated.  We provide our clients with insight into new laws coming onto the books each year.  We have covered many end-of-year sessions in our podcast: Sound Business Insights, providing strong insight and information for any California employer.  The continuous battle over arbitration agreements, employment contracts, wage and hour issues including unpaid overtime, and the actions an employer must take to manage the workforce require constant education and update.

We provide resources and support for our clients to handle questions which might arise and to ensure awareness of and implementation of new procedures.  Employer defense begins with a good offense: knowledge and process in San Diego.

Preventing Litigation and Resolving Employer-Related Disputes

The Watkins Firm has a very successful track record preventing litigation and resolving employer-related disputes before they can become a greater (read: more expensive and time consuming) challenge.  We have more than 40 years of experience defending San Diego employers from wage and hour violations and PAGA actions as well as accusations of discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation and wrongful termination.

Employer defense begins with a good offense including knowledge and process in San Diego but is strengthened by strong documentation and the legal skill to interview witnesses and mount a successful defense.  Employer defense cases are all about existing documentation, and the behavior of the parties prior to, during and following the alleged offenses.  Parties who are genuinely “injured” or “damaged” by harassment or discrimination exhibit documentable behaviors.  It doesn’t necessarily take a psychological expert (although we will employ expert analysis in many cases) to determine the validity and resulting impact of these accusations on the plaintiff.

The employer defense attorneys at the Watkins Firm can help you to avoid risk and put a stop to disputes early on in the process.

Pro-Tip: “Call us, and you describe what’s going on with a certain troubled employee. And we can tell you like skin cancer, oh, that fact scenario doesn’t really fit something that I would go ahead and fight with them or we can say, oh, this one looks bad because of the things they’re complaining about or just the general facts. I would handle it this way. And so you can turn a 20, $30,000 lawsuit situation into empowerment where you can stand your ground or maybe you make some concessions because you got some advice from your lawyer. You need to know when you got to worry about it and when you don’t.

And then in the worst case scenario, there is a lawsuit brewing or one’s even been filed, there’s a secret clock our employer clients are not even aware of. There’s a timeframe that they need to act.  Think about it, when a worker thinks about suing, they go to a lawyer, right? And then you’ll see a change in the way they’re talking to you. All of a sudden they start posturing, and you’ll start receiving communications that sound like you’re getting set up. And you might be, and people in your staff will say, ‘this person’s acting different.’ Well, if you called your lawyer at the Watkins Firm, I would run a check to see if anything was filed already.  Why? Because what a plaintiff’s lawyer loves to do is to file a lawsuit and not let you know until they’ve gathered evidence. But if you know that they filed, and they’re hoping you won’t be gathering evidence of your own, and they’re trying to set you up, you can be gathering evidence yourself before they even serve you. And you could be fixing things, mitigating things before their case gets going and beat them to the punch, so to speak.

So we can look it up. You think you’re getting sued? We can look it up and tell you if online, if anyone’s filed an action against you today. And even if there isn’t a lawsuit filed, there’s usually something you can do to make things better or to make potential issues go away altogether.

If you treat your workers decently and under the law, that goes a long way if it ever gets to court. This is an important point: If you think there’s something going on and we spot it, we can say, ‘okay, instead of communicating this way,’ we’ll give you some good suggestions on what to say, how to say it. We can actually ghost write your emails for you, and because we’re your lawyer, no one can ever discover that. So we can do lots of things for you to really set yourself up for the worst and hopefully head off a lawsuit.  We can beat them to the punch and completely resolve things before they have a chance to get started.  And guess what happens when a plaintiff’s lawyer can’t make any money on your case?  (hint: it vanishes!).”  – Dan Watkins, Founding Partner

Employer Defense Begins with a Good Offense, Knowledge and Process, But it also Requires Action

Employer defense begins with a good offense, knowledge and process in San Diego and throughout California, but it requires action to achieve the maximum result.

If you, as an employer, become aware of any potential issue or dispute you need to take immediate action and all the Watkins Firm for a free, substantive consultation.  There are actions you can and must take in an immediate timeframe to mitigate or remediate your exposure.  Our attorneys provide strong support to our employer clients at every step of the process and employ strategies specifically designed to resolve issues and disputes in a timely and cost-effective manner.

You Need a Proven San Diego Employer Defense Attorney from the Watkins Firm

Why do you need a proven San Diego employer defense attorney from the Watkins Firm?  We help to equip you with the knowledge and process skills required of a California employer.  We help you to establish and monitor effective documentation, policies, procedures and internal documents like the employee handbook.

When a dispute arises, we are there to protect and guide you at every step.  Many of our clients have expressed their fear and frustration over the allegations against them.  Many feel like there is no hope and that circumstances or supporting evidence will ensure a loss in their case.

We have helped many San Diego employers to get through these experiences while achieving successful outcomes in their cases.  We have helped even more to structure their internal documentation and practices to prevent disputes from arising in the first place.  Are you looking for this kind of support as an employer in San Diego or Southern California?  We invite you to review our podcast Episode 39 – What Keeps Employers Up at Night as well as the strong recommendations of our clients and contact the Watkins Firm or call 858-535-1511 for a complimentary consultation today.