Online legal services part of changing landscape
Online legal services are not going away, so traditional attorneys need to adapt to the changing marketplace, according to panelists at a San Diego Law Library event last month.
Education
Law School/Year: Santa Clara University School of Law, 1995
College/Year: University of California, Santa Barbara, 1990
Bar Admissions
California; U.S. Supreme Court; U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit; U.S. District Court, Southern, Central, Northern and Eastern Districts of California
Practice Areas
Employment Litigation; Counseling and Training
Professional Background
I have been practicing law for 17 years, after graduating from Santa Clara University School of Law in 1995. I have been a partner at Wilson Turner Kosmo since 2006, where my practice focuses on the defense of employment litigation and counseling. I have represented local and national employers in a variety of employment matters, including wrongful termination, wage and hour class actions, discrimination, harassment, theft of trade secrets and employment contract disputes. I have tried cases in state and federal court and before arbitrators, including trials in San Francisco, Orange County and San Diego on issues ranging from sex harassment, disability and race discrimination to defamation. Since all of my clients want to stay out of court, a significant part of my practice involves day-to-day counseling, working with employers to achieve resolution of workplace disputes, in order to avoid litigation. After law school I practiced for four years in the Bay Area focusing on employment law before moving to San Diego in 1999. I regularly counsel employers on issues such as layoffs, hiring, investigations, disciplinary actions and terminations. I have also handled numerous government agency hearings and trials, and have argued employment issues before the California Court of Appeal.
Professional Affiliations
I have served on several boards, including San Diego’s Orchestra Nova and the State Bar’s Labor & Employment Executive Committee. I have also been active in local bar activities serving as co-chair of the San Diego County Bar’s Labor & Employment Section for two years (2005-2006), and was a member of the State Bar’s Conference of Delegates (2006-2007). I am a frequent speaker on employment law topics for groups such as the San Diego Employers Association, the Society for Human Resources Management, Employer Resource Institute and have been an instructor of employment law for the past nine years at UCSD’s Leadership and Management Program.
Personal Background
Outside of law, I enjoy spending time with my family, listening to music, hiking, cooking exotic food and baseball. My family immigrated to America from the former Soviet Union in 1973 so that my brother and I could live in freedom. Arriving in a foreign land, with a different culture, and not knowing one word of English, my family struggled as my parents left behind professional careers and all of their friends and family. But, because this is truly a land of opportunity, my parents succeeded in realizing the American dream by providing me and my brother with excellent educational opportunities and the hope that we would achieve even more than they. I am now living the “American Dream,” married to my soul mate, Christie (selected by the The Daily Transcript as a Top Corporate Counsel finalist in 2008), and have two beautiful, inquisitive and vibrant children, Sam and Sophia. Thirty-eight years after arriving in America, I am blessed to watch my parents enjoy the fruits of their labor. Who could ask for more?
Online legal services are not going away, so traditional attorneys need to adapt to the changing marketplace, according to panelists at a San Diego Law Library event last month.
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