(510) 760-7005

About

Fighting for Workers Rights

Aiman-Smith & Marcy is a boutique law firm located in Oakland, California. We help clients throughout the state with labor and employment law, class action lawsuits, and consumer fraud cases from our office here.

Our attorneys are experienced litigators, negotiators, and trial attorneys. We have helped clients in legal cases involving major companies and brands. We are not afraid to fight for the ‘underdog.’ In fact, we have built our practice around helping real-life people resolve real-life legal matters with the utmost attention to their legal rights and best interests.

With over 70 years of combined experience, our team of attorneys knows how to put state and federal laws to work for our clients. Our attorneys attended law school at notable, distinguished organizations like UC Berkeley, UC Hastings, and the University of San Francisco School of Law. Our education and experience during our early years of practicing law helped us shape the goals and mission of our practice.

Fighting for Workers Rights

Aiman-Smith & Marcy is a boutique law firm located in Oakland, California. We help clients throughout the state with labor and employment law, class action lawsuits, and consumer fraud cases from our office here.

Our attorneys are experienced litigators, negotiators, and trial attorneys. We have helped clients in legal cases involving major companies and brands. We are not afraid to fight for the ‘underdog.’ In fact, we have built our practice around helping real-life people resolve real-life legal matters with the utmost attention to their legal rights and best interests.

With over 70 years of combined experience, our team of attorneys knows how to put state and federal laws to work for our clients. Our attorneys attended law school at notable, distinguished organizations like UC Berkeley, UC Hastings, and the University of San Francisco School of Law. Our education and experience during our early years of practicing law helped us shape the goals and mission of our practice.

Our Passion is to Help

We are passionate about helping victims protect their rights and find their voices amid difficult circumstances. No one should have to suffer because of the horrendous actions or behaviors of others. Our goal is to make sure that employees and consumers understand that they have rights and take action.

When you work with Aiman-Smith & Marcy, you are getting the benefits of more than just legal experience. You are getting a wealth of resources and knowledge and a collaborative team of legal professionals. Our attorneys work together on every case we take on. That means you are getting a comprehensive and multidimensional approach to your case that is truly unique.

Our Passion is to Help

Aiman-Smith & Marcy, boutique law firm located in Oakland, California.

We are passionate about helping victims protect their rights and find their voices amid difficult circumstances. No one should have to suffer because of the horrendous actions or behaviors of others. Our goal is to make sure that employees and consumers understand that they have rights and take action.

When you work with Aiman-Smith & Marcy, you are getting the benefits of more than just legal experience. You are getting a wealth of resources and knowledge and a collaborative team of legal professionals. Our attorneys work together on every case we take on. That means you are getting a comprehensive and multidimensional approach to your case that is truly unique.

Our Team

Contact Our Oakland Workplace Discrimination and Harassment Lawyer

If you believe you are a victim of workplace discrimination, harassment, or retaliation, contact Aiman-Smith & Marcy for a free consultation. Our Oakland workplace discrimination and harassment lawyer can help you understand your rights and determine the best option for pursuing justice. Let us help you fight for your rights and preserve your dignity.

Address

7677 Oakport Street Suite 1000
Oakland, California 94621

Telephone

(510) 760-7005

Email

info@asmlawyers.com

Joseph Clapp

Of Counsel (SBN 99194)

Phone-alt Fax

Education and Background

As a young man, I worked during the summers in Yosemite National Park while I attended college. Living in Yosemite was great, but working there was not, because Yosemite was a company town. One company both employed and housed all the workers. If a manager did not like you, he had the power to fire you, evict you from your home, and kick you out of the entire community.

I saw, close up, that that kind of power corrupts. I saw managers who exercised their power carelessly, and worse, I saw managers who exercised their power viciously – sometimes against my best friends. I wondered whether there was something I could do about this, and so I began talking to my friends about organizing a union.

After a couple of years of hard work, my friends and I were able to wage a campaign that won an election to certify the 1500 employees of Yosemite into a union. And after another year of work, we were able to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement that instituted basic protections for the employees against unfair treatment by the company and its managers.

This experience led me to conclude that, as John Lennon put it, “A working class hero is something to be.” I decided to dedicate my life to fighting for those who work for a living. I figured that the best way to do this was to become a lawyer, so after graduating from U.C. Berkeley, I enrolled in law school at the McGeorge School of Law, U.O.P. While there, I learned a lot about persuasive writing when I served as the comments editor of the law journal.

Legal Experience

After graduating from law school and getting my license in 1981, I began my career with the trial firm of Herron & Herron, and I continued practicing with that firm, happily, for decades. During that time, I litigated all aspects of the employment relationship. My cases included wrongful or discriminatory discharges, the failure to pay wages due (e.g., overtime, prevailing wages), substandard working conditions (e.g., meal and rest periods), and the failure to pay earned pensions (ERISA). I have litigated hundreds of individual cases and scores of class actions as the lead class counsel. I feel comfortable litigating in arbitrations, state trial courts, state appellate courts, federal trial courts, and federal appellate courts. I have tried numerous cases to bench or jury verdict, and I have prosecuted or defended many appeals. See, e.g., Duffey v. Tender Heart Home Care Agency, LLC (2019) 31 Cal.App.5th 232 (Domestic Worker Bill of Rights sets forth test for employment status); George v. California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board (2009) 179 Cal.App.4th 1475 (public employee’s retaliation lawsuit survives claim and issue preclusion defenses) and Walker v. Berkeley Housing Authority, 951 F.2d 182 (9th Cir. 1991) (biased decision-maker violates public employee’s Due Process rights).

I have won many, many cases, but I have also lost cases that will leave me scarred for life. As a result, I choose my cases very carefully. In 2012, I was fortunate to meet Randall, and Reed, and Hallie, who are all kindred spirits, and they offered to employ me as “of counsel” to their law firm. This opportunity has afforded me the luxury of being able to represent those, and only those, whose causes I believe in and whose characters I admire. I feel honored to represent these workers as zealously as I possibly can.

John Lofton

Abogado Consejero (SBN 222259)

Phone-alt Envelope Fax

Educación y Antecedentes

El Sr. Lofton recibió su título de la Universidad de Texas en Austin, y obtuvo su Doctorado en Jurisprudencia de la Universidad de California en Berkeley (Boalt Hall). Ha sido secretario del presidente del Tribunal Supremo Veasey de la Corte Suprema de Delaware y es coautor de “Publicaciones de seguridad informática: economía de la información, responsabilidad cambiante y la primera enmienda” (Whittier Law Review, Vol. 24, No. 1).

Experiencia Jurídica

La práctica del Sr. Lofton se dedica exclusivamente a representar a demandantes individuales contra grandes corporaciones, empleadores sin escrúpulos y cualquier persona que busque defraudar a los miembros del público.

8.2John Arrington Lofton

Reed W. L. Marcy

Attorney (SBN 191531)

Phone-alt Envelope Fax

Education and Background

I was born in Seattle and raised in Washington, the Bay Area, and Oregon before returning to the Bay Area in 1980 to attend college and I have stayed here ever since. I went to UC Berkeley to study French literature and graduated in three years with High Honors, and then completed my Master’s Degree in Medieval French Literature in 1985. I spent six months travelling and studying in Europe. My master’s thesis was on Christine de Pizan, a Burgundian court poet from the time of Joan of Arc and a proto-feminist scholar who clashed with the establishment of her day.

For 8 years, I worked as a college administrator, doing admissions, financial aid, and academic counselling at UC Berkeley’s Graduate English department and California College of the Arts – School of Architecture and Design. My favorite part about both of those jobs was being able to use my ability to understand a complex web of rules and regulations and use that understanding to make a difference in the lives of the students.

Legal Experience

I am the President of the Top 10 Wage & Hour of the National Trial Lawyers Association for 2022-2023.

In 1994, I decided to attend law school at UC Hastings in San Francisco. This turned out to be the right decision. My first-year legal writing instructor was Randall Aiman-Smith. We hit it off immediately and we have been working together for the causes we believe in ever since. Over the years, my practice has come to focus primarily on two broad areas: individual workplace discrimination and wrongful termination – including sex discrimination, sex harassment, race discrimination, and retaliation – and class actions for unpaid wages – including failure to pay overtime, misclassification of employees as exempt or as independent contractors, failure to provide meal and rest breaks, and failure to reimburse expenses, such as uniforms. The firm’s no-compromise, never-quit approach has resulted in a number of cases having to go up on appeal (sometimes more than once), including two landmark wage and hour published opinions.

I am also currently serving as the President of the Top 10 Wage & Hour of the National Trial Lawyers Association for 2022-2023.

I started working for Randall on a whistleblower retaliation case against the City and County of San Francisco. It turned out that case would last fifteen years. Our first class action case was filed in 1998; it is still ongoing today. That is a measure of our commitment.

I worked with Randall during my law school years, and upon graduation, became a full-time associate and later partner at McPhee & Aiman-Smith. We spent a lot of time thinking about our role in the legal work-place, what it meant to be an advocate, how the system worked to favor the interests of the powerful, how we might redefine our roles in order to more forcefully advocate for our clients.

Randall and I, along with Hallie Von Rock, formed Aiman-Smith & Marcy in 2006. Our shared vision for the firm has always been to provide the highest-caliber legal services possible by maintaining intellectual honesty, refusing to cut corners, and always putting the client’s interest first. This yields, we believe, the highest-quality written and oral advocacy possible. We want our clients to feel that they have the smartest, hardest-working, and most honest lawyers they could find. We maintain an unusually small case load so that we can focus intently on each client’s case and avoid stretching ourselves thin. We typically spend thousands of hours on a given case, and are always prepared to take each case through trial and appeal.

Personal Interests

I like to work at home in Redwood City in the mornings with the help of my two cats, Jake and Nellie, and my wife Anne, before coming in to the office to collaborate with the group. My other interests include music and hifi, gourmet cooking and travel – hobbies best practiced in various combinations and sometimes all at once.

Education

University of California, Berkeley, A.B. with High Honors 1983, French Literature

University of California, Berkeley, M.A. 1985, French Literature

University of California, Hastings College of Law, J.D. 1997

thumbnail_2020-top20-wages-hour-violation-settlements-us-reed-marcy-150x150
69ae0fba-dc03-4f6a-8d46-83086d2c1faa-min-min
big-WHTLA-Top-10-min
getbadge-min

Randall Aiman-Smith

Abogado (SBN 124599)

Phone-alt Envelope Fax

Educación y antecedentes

Fui afortunado. A pesar de no haber terminado la escuela secundaria o la universidad, pude -aunque con mucho trabajo- ser admitido y sobresalir en una de las mejores escuelas de derecho del país: La Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad de Berkeley. Mientras estuve allí, tuve el privilegio de ser editor de la California Law Review y miembro del Moot Court Board, asesorando en la redacción de escritos y en la defensa de apelaciones a otros estudiantes. Después de salir de la escuela de derecho, en mis primeros años de práctica, enseñé la escritura legal y la defensa de apelación en la Universidad de California, Hastings College of the Law. También, a lo largo de los años, he sido presentador en eventos de educación legal continua.

Experiencia legal

He sido abogado durante 35 años. He dedicado mi práctica exclusivamente a representar a empleados, consumidores e inversores en los tribunales estatales y federales de primera instancia y en los tribunales de apelación. Me gusta ir a los tribunales por mis clientes y he llevado muchos casos con jurado en los tribunales estatales y federales.

¿Ejemplos? En 2010, fui la abogada principal, junto con los otros abogados del bufete, en el caso Williams v. Union Pacific Railroad donde, después de cuatro años de preparación, el bufete obtuvo un veredicto del jurado de 1.670.000 dólares para una empleada afroamericana. En Rivero v. Surdyka, fui el abogado principal en el juicio y la apelación de un caso de derechos civiles que duró 15 años, incluyendo un juicio completo y tres apelaciones al Noveno Circuito, concluyendo finalmente con una sentencia para los demandantes de más de 2.300.000 dólares. Estos casos ilustran el lema del bufete: compromiso – resultados. Hay que comprometerse con un caso, a veces durante mucho tiempo, para obtener el resultado que el cliente merece.

No siempre ganamos en el juicio. Cuando eso ocurre, el compromiso significa llevar el caso al siguiente nivel y recurrirlo. En el caso Rivero, antes mencionado, eso fue lo que ocurrió: el tribunal desestimó el caso -habíamos perdido- pero apelamos y conseguimos una victoria para nuestros clientes que mantuvimos a través de dos apelaciones más. Desde entonces, el bufete ha conseguido muchas victorias en apelación que reivindican los derechos de los empleados y los consumidores.

A lo largo de los años he sido abogado de los demandantes en numerosos casos individuales y acciones colectivas. Puede sonar cursi, o difícil de creer, pero después de todo este tiempo, y después de todas las grandes experiencias que he tenido, mi parte favorita de ser abogado es cuando consigo dar un cheque a mi cliente.

 

Educación

Facultad de Derecho, Universidad de California, Berkeley, J.D., 1986

getbadge-min

John Lofton

Of Counsel (SBN 222259)

Phone-alt Envelope Fax

Education and Background

Mr. Lofton received his B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin, and went on to obtain his J.D. from University of California at Berkeley (Boalt Hall). He has clerked for Chief Justice Veasey of the Delaware Supreme Court and co-authored “Computer Security Publications: Information Economics, Shifting Liability and the First Amendment” (Whittier Law Review, Vol. 24, No. 1).

Legal Experience

Mr. Lofton’s practice is dedicated exclusively to representing individual plaintiffs against large corporations, unscrupulous employers, and anyone who seeks to defraud members of the public.

8.2John Arrington Lofton

Reed W. L. Marcy

Attorney (SBN 191531)

Phone-alt Envelope Fax

Education and Background

I was born in Seattle and raised in Washington, the Bay Area, and Oregon before returning to the Bay Area in 1980 to attend college and I have stayed here ever since. I went to UC Berkeley to study French literature and graduated in three years with High Honors, and then completed my Master’s Degree in Medieval French Literature in 1985. I spent six months travelling and studying in Europe. My master’s thesis was on Christine de Pizan, a Burgundian court poet from the time of Joan of Arc and a proto-feminist scholar who clashed with the establishment of her day.

For 8 years, I worked as a college administrator, doing admissions, financial aid, and academic counselling at UC Berkeley’s Graduate English department and California College of the Arts – School of Architecture and Design. My favorite part about both of those jobs was being able to use my ability to understand a complex web of rules and regulations and use that understanding to make a difference in the lives of the students.

Legal Experience

I am the President of the Top 10 Wage & Hour of the National Trial Lawyers Association for 2022-2023.

In 1994, I decided to attend law school at UC Hastings in San Francisco. This turned out to be the right decision. My first-year legal writing instructor was Randall Aiman-Smith. We hit it off immediately and we have been working together for the causes we believe in ever since. Over the years, my practice has come to focus primarily on two broad areas: individual workplace discrimination and wrongful termination – including sex discrimination, sex harassment, race discrimination, and retaliation – and class actions for unpaid wages – including failure to pay overtime, misclassification of employees as exempt or as independent contractors, failure to provide meal and rest breaks, and failure to reimburse expenses, such as uniforms. The firm’s no-compromise, never-quit approach has resulted in a number of cases having to go up on appeal (sometimes more than once), including two landmark wage and hour published opinions.

I am also currently serving as the President of the Top 10 Wage & Hour of the National Trial Lawyers Association for 2022-2023.

I started working for Randall on a whistleblower retaliation case against the City and County of San Francisco. It turned out that case would last fifteen years. Our first class action case was filed in 1998; it is still ongoing today. That is a measure of our commitment.

I worked with Randall during my law school years, and upon graduation, became a full-time associate and later partner at McPhee & Aiman-Smith. We spent a lot of time thinking about our role in the legal work-place, what it meant to be an advocate, how the system worked to favor the interests of the powerful, how we might redefine our roles in order to more forcefully advocate for our clients.

Randall and I, along with Hallie Von Rock, formed Aiman-Smith & Marcy in 2006. Our shared vision for the firm has always been to provide the highest-caliber legal services possible by maintaining intellectual honesty, refusing to cut corners, and always putting the client’s interest first. This yields, we believe, the highest-quality written and oral advocacy possible. We want our clients to feel that they have the smartest, hardest-working, and most honest lawyers they could find. We maintain an unusually small case load so that we can focus intently on each client’s case and avoid stretching ourselves thin. We typically spend thousands of hours on a given case, and are always prepared to take each case through trial and appeal.

Personal Interests

I like to work at home in Redwood City in the mornings with the help of my two cats, Jake and Nellie, and my wife Anne, before coming in to the office to collaborate with the group. My other interests include music and hifi, gourmet cooking and travel – hobbies best practiced in various combinations and sometimes all at once.

Education

University of California, Berkeley, A.B. with High Honors 1983, French Literature

University of California, Berkeley, M.A. 1985, French Literature

University of California, Hastings College of Law, J.D. 1997

thumbnail_2020-top20-wages-hour-violation-settlements-us-reed-marcy-150x150
69ae0fba-dc03-4f6a-8d46-83086d2c1faa-min-min
big-WHTLA-Top-10-min
getbadge-min
badgenew2

Randall Aiman-Smith

Attorney (SBN 124599)

Phone-alt Envelope Fax

Education and Background

I was fortunate. Despite never finishing high school or college, I was able – albeit with a lot of hard work – to gain admission to, and to excel at, one of the finest law schools in the country: U.C. Berkeley’s School of Law. While I was there, I was privileged to be an editor for the California Law Review and a Member of the Moot Court Board, advising on brief writing and appellate advocacy for other students. After I left law school, in my early years of practice, I taught legal writing and appellate advocacy at University of California, Hastings College of the Law. Also, over the years, I have been presenter at continuing legal education events.

Legal Experience

I have been an attorney for 35 years. I have devoted my practice exclusively to representing employees, consumers, and investors in the state and federal trial courts and courts of appeal. I relish going to court for my clients and I have tried many jury cases in the state and federal courts.

Examples? In 2010, I was the lead attorney, along with the other attorneys in the firm, in Williams v. Union Pacific Railroad where, after four years of preparation, the firm obtained a jury verdict of $1,670,000 for an African-American female employee. In Rivero v. Surdyka, I was lead trial and appellate counsel in a civil rights case that lasted 15 years, including a full trial and three appeals to the Ninth Circuit, finally concluding in a judgment for plaintiffs of over $2,300,000. These cases illustrate the firm’s motto: commitment – results. You have to commit to a case, sometimes over a very long time, to get the result the client deserves.

 We don’t always win in the trial court. When that happens, commitment means taking the case to the next level and appealing it. In the Rivero case, above, that’s what happened: the court dismissed the case – we had lost – but we appealed and achieved a victory for our clients which we kept through two more appeals. Since then, the firm has had many appellate victories that vindicate the rights of employees and consumers. 

Over the years I have been counsel for plaintiffs in numerous individual cases and class actions. It may sound corny, or hard to believe, but after all this time, and after all the great experiences I have had, my favorite part of being a lawyer is when I get to give my client a check.

 

Education

School of Law, University of California, Berkeley, J.D.,1986

getbadge-min

Miles

Embajador de Oro

Educación

Terminé con éxito la escuela de cachorros, pero mi educación legal avanzó a partir de entonces. Aprendí la importancia de no morder debido a una ley llamada “responsabilidad estricta” y aprendí la importancia de recolectar pruebas (mi mamá siempre trae una bolsa de plástico en nuestras caminatas para ese fin).

Pasatiempos

El tenis es mi deporte favorito. No soy tan bueno con una raqueta, pero soy hábil persiguiendo pelotas de tenis.

Habilidades

Me comprometo a alegrar el día de cualquier persona con la que me cruce (a menos que sea una ardilla). Soy excelente en darte la oportunidad de sentirte mejor al rascarme la barriga o acariciarme las orejas. Si necesitas una cabeza en tu regazo o tienes golosinas que necesitas regalar, estaré allí para ti.

Mi papel en Aiman-Smith & Marcy

Entiendo que las demandas pueden ser muy estresantes y, por lo tanto, me veo a mí mismo como un “embajador dorado” para brindar consuelo y apoyo cuando lo necesite. Si vienes a nuestra oficina y quieres que esté a tu lado mientras cuentas tu historia, solo háznoslo saber y eso se puede arreglar.

Miles

Golden Ambassador

Education

I successfully completed puppy school, but my legal education was advanced thereafter. I learned the importance of not biting due to a law called “strict liability” and I learned the importance of collecting evidence (my mom always bring a plastic bag on our walks for that purpose).

Hobbies

Tennis is my favorite sport – I am not so good with a racket, but I am accomplished at chasing down tennis balls.

Skills

I am committed to brighten the day of anyone I come across (unless it is a squirrel). I am excellent at giving you the opportunity to feel better by scratching my belly or petting my ears. If you need a head on your lap or have treats you need to give away, I will be there for you.

My role at Aiman-Smith & Marcy

I understand lawsuits can be very stressful and so I see myself as a “golden ambassador” to provide comfort and support when you need it. If you come to our office and want me by your side while you tell your story, just let us know and that can be arranged.

Lisseth Bayona

Attorney

Phone-alt Fax

Education and Background

I am a Los Angeles native and daughter of Salvadorian immigrants. From an early age, my parents instilled the value of hard work and education in me and my two siblings. Their perseverance enabled each of us to graduate from college and earn professional degrees.

My interest and commitment to workers’ rights have roots in my parents’ experiences as undocumented workers in Los Angeles. Witnessing the challenges they faced inspired me to pursue a career where I can help individuals confronted with similar struggles. To help someone in those moments is very satisfying. I love connecting with people and learning about their stories. I believe that dignity in the workplace is a right of all workers, not a convenience or privilege reserved for employees of a certain race, gender, age, sexual orientation, or gender identity.

Legal Experience

I received my J.D. from the University of Southern California (USC) Gould School of Law. While there, I served as a judicial extern to the Honorable Patrick J. Walsh of the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Also, while at Gould, I served as an extern for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, Criminal Division. As an extern, I worked closely with a trial team of Assistant U.S. Attorneys in prosecution of a web-based platform used to promote human trafficking.

I am a member of Aiman-Smith & Marcy’s class action litigation group. As part of that team, I have successfully fought high-stakes legal battles against well-resourced and highly competent defense firms. See, e.g., Cal. Labor & Workforce Dev. Agency ex rel. Raymond v. CompuCom Sys. (E.D.Cal. Mar. 9, 2023, No. 2:21-cv-02327-KJM-KLN) 2023 U.S.Dist.LEXIS 40710.

Personal Interests

In my free time, I enjoy urban vegetable gardening, traveling, and spending time with my nephew and niece. I also love to spend time at San Onofre Beach learning to surf, although admittedly, I am not very good.

Education

 

Hallie L. Von Rock

Abogada (SBN 233152)

Phone-alt Envelope Fax

Educación y Antecedentes

Me mudé a la zona de la bahía desde Washington después de graduarme en el instituto. Me aceptaron en la UC Berkeley a través de un programa en el que podía aplazar dos años mientras obtenía mi residencia en California y asistía a la universidad comunitaria, lo cual era significativo ya que estaba pagando la universidad por mi cuenta. Empecé a trabajar para Randall Aiman-Smith y Reed Marcy en 1996 como encargada de la oficina mientras tomaba clases nocturnas. Mi primera incursión en el mundo legal fue poco después de empezar en el bufete, cuando estaba preparada para transferirme a la UC Berkeley. En lugar de aceptar mi condición de residente, la Junta de Regentes adoptó la posición de que la residencia de California requería que un estudiante estuviera en California “dos años naturales”. Randall y Reed se ocuparon de mi caso con el mismo brío con el que ayudaban a sus clientes reales y tuve la oportunidad de peinar la biblioteca de la UC Berkeley para leer sus códigos y reglamentos para apoyar mi posición. En esa experiencia, aprendí lo que era sentirse indefenso frente a una gran organización y luego tener abogados dedicados en mi rincón para defender mi causa.

Tras una pausa para estudiar historia del arte, fui a la Facultad de Derecho de la UC Hastings y seguí trabajando con Randall y Reed. Después de haber trabajado juntos durante 25 años, tenemos una capacidad única para trabajar en colaboración y terminar las frases del otro. Me he esforzado a lo largo de mi carrera para hacer una diferencia en la vida de nuestros clientes. Al final del día, si estoy ayudando a alguien a obtener una compensación por las pérdidas que sufrió, entonces sé que todo el trabajo realizado en un caso ha valido la pena.

Experiencia legal

Tengo amplia experiencia en litigios civiles y casos de acciones colectivas, incluyendo la realización de descubrimiento y deposiciones, el cálculo de análisis de daños, la preparación de mociones para la certificación, la redacción de documentos de apelación, y la supervisión de la administración de las reclamaciones. Hemos llevado varias demandas colectivas contra minoristas en las que los demandantes alegaban que se les obligaba a comprar ropa para ir a trabajar y no se les compensaba por estas compras, incluso contra Abercrombie & Fitch, Hugo Boss, Armani Exchange, Uniqlo, Dollar Tree y Ross. Recientemente, fui abogado litigante en una demanda por difamación contra el Bank of America en nombre de una ex empleada que afirmaba que el Banco la había puesto en una lista negra con futuros empleadores. El jurado encontró al Bank of America responsable, incluso por daños punitivos.

Intereses personales

Aiman-Smith & Marcy me ha patrocinado en el Maratón de Boston y en el Maratón de Nueva York. Cuando corro, suelo llevar una camiseta “Rockstar Ronan” para apoyar la investigación del cáncer infantil a través de la Fundación Ronan Thompson.

Educación

Universidad de California, Berkeley, licenciatura, 1999

Facultad de Derecho Hastings, Universidad de California, J.D., 2004

Hallie L. Von Rock

Attorney (SBN 233152)

Phone-alt Envelope Fax

Education and Background

I moved to the Bay Area from Washington after graduating high school. I had been accepted to UC Berkeley through a program where I could defer for two years while getting my California residency and attending community college, which was significant since I was paying for college on my own. I began working for Randall Aiman-Smith and Reed Marcy in 1996 as an office manager while taking night classes. My first foray into the legal world was soon after starting at the firm when I was ready to transfer to UC Berkeley. Rather than accepting my resident status, the Board of Regents took the position that California residency required a student to be in California “two calendar years.” Randall and Reed took up my case with the same verve as they helped their actual clients and I got the chance to comb through the UC Berkeley library to read their codes and regulations to support my position. In that experience, I learned what is was like to feel helpless against a big organization and then to have dedicated attorneys in my corner to take up my cause.

After a break to pursue my major in art history, I went to UC Hastings College of Law and continued working with Randall and Reed. Having worked together now for over 25 years, we have a unique ability to work collaboratively and finish each other’s sentences. I have strived throughout my career to make a difference in the lives of our clients. At the end of the day, if I am helping someone to get compensation for losses they suffered, then I know that all the work put into a case has been worth it.

Legal Experience

I have extensive experience in civil litigation and class action cases, including conducting discovery and depositions, calculating damages analysis, preparing motions for certification, writing appellate documents, and overseeing claims administration. We have handled several class actions against retailers where plaintiffs claimed they were forced to purchase clothing to wear to work and were not compensated for these purchases, including against Abercrombie & Fitch, Hugo Boss, Armani Exchange, Uniqlo, Dollar Tree, and Ross. Recently, I was trial counsel in a defamation claim against Bank of America on behalf of a former employee who claimed the Bank blacklisted her with future employers. The jury found Bank of America liable, including for punitive damages.

Personal Interests

Aiman-Smith & Marcy has sponsored me in the Boston Marathon and New York Marathon. When I race, I often wear a “Rockstar Ronan” shirt to support research for childhood cancer through The Ronan Thompson Foundation.

Education

University of California, Berkeley, B.A., 1999

Hastings College of the Law, University of California, J.D., 2004

Randall Aiman-Smith

Abogado (SBN 124599)

Aiman-Smith & Marcy. Oakland consumer fraud attorneys.
Phone-alt Envelope Fax

Educación y antecedentes

Fui afortunado. A pesar de no haber terminado la escuela secundaria o la universidad, pude -aunque con mucho trabajo- ser admitido y sobresalir en una de las mejores escuelas de derecho del país: La Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad de Berkeley. Mientras estuve allí, tuve el privilegio de ser editor de la California Law Review y miembro del Moot Court Board, asesorando en la redacción de escritos y en la defensa de apelaciones a otros estudiantes. Después de salir de la escuela de derecho, en mis primeros años de práctica, enseñé la escritura legal y la defensa de apelación en la Universidad de California, Hastings College of the Law. También, a lo largo de los años, he sido presentador en eventos de educación legal continua.

Experiencia legal

He sido abogado durante 35 años. He dedicado mi práctica exclusivamente a representar a empleados, consumidores e inversores en los tribunales estatales y federales de primera instancia y en los tribunales de apelación. Me gusta ir a los tribunales por mis clientes y he llevado muchos casos con jurado en los tribunales estatales y federales.

¿Ejemplos? En 2010, fui la abogada principal, junto con los otros abogados del bufete, en el caso Williams v. Union Pacific Railroad donde, después de cuatro años de preparación, el bufete obtuvo un veredicto del jurado de 1.670.000 dólares para una empleada afroamericana. En Rivero v. Surdyka, fui el abogado principal en el juicio y la apelación de un caso de derechos civiles que duró 15 años, incluyendo un juicio completo y tres apelaciones al Noveno Circuito, concluyendo finalmente con una sentencia para los demandantes de más de 2.300.000 dólares. Estos casos ilustran el lema del bufete: compromiso – resultados. Hay que comprometerse con un caso, a veces durante mucho tiempo, para obtener el resultado que el cliente merece.

No siempre ganamos en el juicio. Cuando eso ocurre, el compromiso significa llevar el caso al siguiente nivel y recurrirlo. En el caso Rivero, antes mencionado, eso fue lo que ocurrió: el tribunal desestimó el caso -habíamos perdido- pero apelamos y conseguimos una victoria para nuestros clientes que mantuvimos a través de dos apelaciones más. Desde entonces, el bufete ha conseguido muchas victorias en apelación que reivindican los derechos de los empleados y los consumidores.

A lo largo de los años he sido abogado de los demandantes en numerosos casos individuales y acciones colectivas. Puede sonar cursi, o difícil de creer, pero después de todo este tiempo, y después de todas las grandes experiencias que he tenido, mi parte favorita de ser abogado es cuando consigo dar un cheque a mi cliente.

 

Educación

Facultad de Derecho, Universidad de California, Berkeley, J.D., 1986