A smart and tenacious litigator, Bryan Schwartz has represented clients' interests before a wide range of adjudicative bodies: from the United States District Court, to United States Courts of Appeals; from California Superior Courts to the California Supreme Court; from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, to the Merit Systems Protection Board; from the United States Department of Labor, to labor arbitration before the American Arbitration Association and other organizations. Mr. Schwartz has helped many grateful clients get their careers back on track after employer wrongdoing derailed them, obtaining millions in recovery for employees across the country.

Mr. Schwartz's efforts on behalf of whistleblowers and discrimination victims have been publicized worldwide, from The Washington Post to the Wall Street Journal, from National Public Radio to MSNBC, from Voice of America to India's Hindustani Times. Mr. Schwartz has developed a niche in Federal employees' unique claims, and has led multi-plaintiff class and collective actions involving overtime and other wage violations under state and federal laws across the country.

Before founding his own firm in 2009, Mr. Schwartz led the San Francisco, California, office of Nichols Kaster, LLP. Previously, Mr. Schwartz practiced with the Washington, DC-based firm of Passman & Kaplan, PC, and clerked for the Hon. Franklin Van Antwerpen, currently a senior member of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

Mr. Schwartz is a member of the State Bar of California's Labor and Employment Law Section Executive Committee. He is a member of the Diversity Committee of the California Employment Lawyers Association, and a regular speaker at and volunteer with the Legal Aid Society's Employment Law Center.

As a young man, Mr. Schwartz was elected the International Programming Vice President of the B'nai B'rith Youth Organization and President of Cornell University's student government. After graduating from Cornell and before law school, Mr. Schwartz was a Federal Investigator (bilingual-Spanish) at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a campaign manager, and a school teacher in Costa Rica. Also a professional photojournalist, Mr. Schwartz has traveled to 46 countries on five continents and is President of the non-profit organization, Scattered Among the Nations. Mr. Schwartz is the President of Temple Beth Abraham in Oakland, California.

Contact Mr. Schwartz.

ADMISSIONS
California Supreme Court
District of Columbia Court of Appeals
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
United States District Court for the Northern District of California
United States District Court for the Central District of California
United States District Court for the Eastern District of California
United States District Court for the Southern District of California
United States District Court for the District of Columbia

Mr. Schwartz has also been admitted by special permission (pro hac vice) in 14 District Courts nationwide.

EDUCATION
J.D. 2000, Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California at Berkeley
B.A. 1994, Cornell University, magna cum laude

COMMITTEES
State Bar of California Labor and Employment Law Section Executive Committee
California Employment Lawyers Association Diversity Committee
FAIR (California Employment Lawyers Association's non-profit foundation),
Board of Directors, Secretary

PUBLICATIONS / SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
2012 State Bar of California Labor and Employment Law Section Annual Meeting, Co-Chair (Scheduled, October 2012).

2011 California Employment Lawyers Association Annual Conference, Diversity Luncheon Speaker, "How to Increase Diversity in the Plaintiffs' Employment Bar"

2011 State Bar of California Labor and Employment Law Section, Annual Meeting, "Nuts and Bolts of a Successful Plaintiff's Practice" Moderator

2011 Willamette University College of Law (Salem, Oregon), "Seeking Social Justice Through Administrative Law"

2011 State Bar of California Labor and Employment Law Section, First Annual Wage & Hour Conference, "Wage and Hour Litigation After ATT Mobility v. Concepcion" Co-Chair

2011 California Employment Lawyers Association Litigation Basics Seminar, Chair and Presenter

"Your Legal Rights: a Debate on the ATT Mobility v. Concepcion Supreme Court
Decision, and How it Affects Your Rights in the Workplace"
May 4, 2011, National Public Radio, KALW San Francisco 91.7 FM. (link)

2011 Golden Gate University School of Law, "Discovery Challenges"

2011 UC Berkeley (Boalt Hall) School of Law, Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor Law and California Employment Lawyers Association Panel, "Careers in Employment Law" Moderator

2010 State Bar of California Labor and Employment Law Section Annual Meeting, Co-Chair; "Strategically Positioning Your Disability Discrimination Case for Trial" Moderator

2010 National Employment Lawyers Association Convention, "How to Create & Grow Your Solo Legal Practice"

2010 State Bar of California Labor and Employment Law Section Public Sector Conference, "The First Amendment in the Public Sector: Do Privacy and Free Speech Still Exist?" Moderator

"How to win court approval for your class-action settlement – Learn to avoid delays that occur if the court rejects or requires modification of your settlement" Plaintiff, April 2010, pp. 16-21.2009 (link)

SCORE (Counselors of America's Small Business Owners, a partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)) Meeting, "How to Avoid Hearing From Someone Like Me - Tips for Small Businesses from a Plaintiffs' Employment Lawyer"

2009 UC Berkeley (Boalt Hall) School of Law, Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor Law and California Employment Lawyers Association Panel, "Hot Topics and Recent Victories in the California Employment Law Plaintiffs' Bar," Moderator.

2009 State Bar of California Labor and Employment Annual Meeting, "Gaze Into Our Crystal Ball as We Reveal Labor and Employment Trends for the Future."

2009 UC Hastings Women's Law Journal Symposium, Ongoing Struggles for Economic Equality: Challenges Faced by Women and Marginalized Communities, "Low-Wage Workers in the Economic Crisis."

2008 National Employment Lawyers Association Convention, "Advanced Strategic Thinking in Whistleblower Cases."

2007 National Employment Lawyers Association Conference, Representing Workers in Individual and Collective Actions Under the FLSA, "Encouraging Wage & Hour Actions Against State & Local Public Employers."

2007 Keynote Speaker, San Francisco Hillel Business and Law Mentorship Program, "Don't Sell Out: Keeping Jewish Values in Your Career and Life"

"In the Name of Security, Insecurity: The Trend to Diminish Employee Rights," The Labor Lawyer, Vol. 21, No. 1, Summer 2005, published by the American Bar Association.

Federal Employees Legal Survival Guide (2d Ed.) (Workplace Fairness: 2005), Contributing Author.

MEMBERSHIPS
National Employment Lawyers Association
California Employment Lawyers Association
California State Bar Labor and Employment Law Section

LANGUAGES
Spanish (fluent)
Portuguese (conversational)
Russian (basic)
Hebrew (basic)