What should you be looking for in your proven employer defense attorney in San Diego or anywhere in California?  California is, by far, the most challenging and legally risky state in which to be an employer.  Employers throughout the State of California face increasing challenges each and every year.  Employer-related litigation has skyrocketed over the past few years.  Each passing year the State of California adds more and more restrictions and reporting requirements in addition to changes at the federal law.  How can an employer protect themselves in this hostile environment?

Key Takeaways About Finding Your Employer Defense Attorney in San Diego:

• California is, by far, the most challenging and legally risky state in which to be an employer.
• Watkins Firm has extensive experience in many forms of employment defense cases, including but not limited to wage and hour litigation, unpaid overtime, PAGA defense, misclassification, representing employers at State Agency hearings, retaliation, FMLA disputes, discrimination, harassment, and termination disputes.

Four Decades of Employer Defense Experience

The Watkins Firm has more than four decades of experience as employer defense attorneys serving San Diego and throughout the State of California.  We only represent and defend employers, and provide general business counsel for our business clients to help them to avoid litigation, and defend them in any dispute that may arise.

California is known as a court system that tends to lean toward the perspective of the employee in litigation matters.  The Watkins Firm has a strong record of success defending employers in disputes and lawsuits associated with, but not limited to:

• Wage and Hour Issues
• Unpaid Overtime Allegations
• PAGA Defense
• Employee Misclassification Hearings and Lawsuits
• Employment Contract Disputes
• Enforcement of Misappropriation of Trade Secrets
• Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Disputes
• Employer Retaliation
• Discrimination Claims
• Accusations of Sexual Harassment

We also represent employers who are accused of wrongful termination and represent their interests in ERISA or benefit related disputes or lawsuits.

Come Into Compliance – The Best Defense is Often a Good Offense!

Your proven employer defense attorney in San Diego at the Watkins Firm will work proactively to help our clients to come into compliance with all employer-related laws and regulations on a federal, state and local level.  We provide review of important internal documents such as policies and procedures, employee handbooks and employment contracts.  We help to train internal management to ensure they understand and put into practice the legal requirements of employment related laws.

Your Employer Defense Attorney in San Diego Resolves Disputes Quickly and Efficiently

Our clients appreciate our unique approach to litigation.  We aggressively pursue leveraged negotiations, and alternative means of resolving a dispute.  Your employer defense attorney in San Diego at the Watkins Firm is able to resolve the vast majority of lawsuits and business litigation cases prior to heading to trial, most through effective, leveraged negotiation.  This is the fastest and least expensive path to resolve a dispute or lawsuit.

We work with our clients to establish specific goals and objectives for the dispute or lawsuit.  We then take the actions necessary to resolve or settle the matter in the shortest possible time frame and in a cost-effective manner.

Pro-tip: “The state of California has hired or licensed a whole bunch of lawyers out there to be bounty hunters, and instead of funding any regulation and enforcement, they just said, we can say whatever we want. And they’ll be a lawyer out there who wants to get attorney’s fees out of an employer and be a bounty hunter to try to catch you at the tiniest mistakes and make you pay dearly for it.

Every California employer needs to have a good lawyer who helps you stay up to speed and take those little technical matters seriously, because it doesn’t cost much to be in compliance. It really doesn’t. But it costs so much to get caught. Usually you don’t get caught for a few months and before you know it, you could literally lose hundreds of thousands of dollars for an accounting error or the way you put your paychecks out or your refusal or failure to put up a little sign in your break room. All those little things. There’s some lawyer out there – Mr. Bounty Hunter – looking for you to try to collect five, 10, $15,000 in fees for tiny mistakes.

That’s how you take a mistake on the way somebody drafted someone’s paycheck to the tune of, let’s say $15 a week. That puts you in a class action that costs you $300,000, $400,000 because of an accounting error, and because they went into a PAGA class action. Now, had you had certain types of agreements in place, even some kinds of arbitration agreements, we could help you to have them in place and prevent all of that. 

That’s really where we’re at now on these laws. You could have cut this off also, had you had one of our old, experienced lawyer for employers you could talk to about your procedures or maybe an outside accounting service to review it or a CPA or our HR person, someone you can call if there’s any questions. Or your staff can call, then you won’t have this problem. And if you do, then we can help you shut it down right away.” – Dan Watkins, Founding Partner

Contact your proven employer defense attorney in San Diego or anywhere in California, and work with a legal team with more than four decades of experience serving the California and San Diego business community. We invite you to review our Podcast Episode 22 – the Most Common Questions We Get from Our Employer Clients and Episode 23 – Managing Employees in San Diego as well as the strong recommendations of our clients and contact the Watkins Firm or call 858-535-1511 for a complimentary consultation today.

Meet Daniel Watkins:

Daniel W. Watkins is a true people person who sincerely listens. He cares deeply about what others are going through.  Dan enjoys digging into the facts and finding creative solutions to problems.  He contributes his insights candidly and constructively.

Dan’s interest in people make him deeply invested in every relationship and his exuberant personality makes him a true litigator. Dan fights for his clients with a fierce and calculated commitment.

Dan has practiced in the areas of business, medical practices and healthcare business, high tech/science, real estate and employment defense law since 1987. He is a trusted litigation strategist and true trial attorney with over 50 jury and bench trials to his credit. Dan has successfully represented both large companies and individuals and achieved substantial victories in well-publicized trials throughout California and the U.S.

He is experienced in business and corporate formation and administration, as well as all forms of alternative dispute resolution, including binding arbitration and mediation.

THE ROAD TO BECOMING A BUSINESS LAWYER AND LITIGATOR

Dan has almost 40 years of experience working with, for and against some of the largest insurance companies in the country. He has successfully tried and litigated cases in the areas of Healthcare Compliance, Commercial Litigation, Unfair Business Practices, Fraud, Breach of Contract, Battery, Premises Liability, Product Defect, Medical Malpractice, Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, Construction Defect, as well as Unfair Competition, Defamation, and Trade Secrets.

In December 2003, Dan commenced litigation against Health South Surgery Centers-West, Inc and its’ subsidiaries, exposing the company’s extensive mismanagement and misconduct of its’ surgery centers. Dan has also been asked by some of California’s largest municipalities and corporations to conduct legally required investigations into matters involving alleged employment discrimination and harassment.