District Court Rejects Challenge to Law Prohibiting Unilateral Deductions from Worker Paychecks on Public Work

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The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California today granted motions to dismiss challenges to California Senate Bill 954 (2016), which prohibits contractors on public work from unilaterally reducing workers’ wages by taking credit for payments to industry advancement funds.  Under Senate Bill 954, contractors may only take credit for industry advancement payments that are required by a collective bargaining agreement with the workers’ representative.

In ABC-Contractor Cooperation Committee v. Becerra, a contractor and an industry advancement fund alleged that Senate Bill 954 is preempted by the National Labor Relations Act and violates the First Amendment and Equal Protection Clause.  The District Court rejected the challenges, concluding that Congress did not intend to prevent the States from allowing minimum labor standards to be varied by collective bargaining agreements and that the California statute does not restrain free speech or impermissibly discriminate.

Altshuler Berzon LLP represented the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California in defending the law.

 

Altshuler Berzon LLP Congratulates 2014 Summer Associate Julie Veroff

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Altshuler Berzon LLP congratulates Julie Veroff, one of its 2014 Summer Associates, on her clerkship with Justice Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court’s October 2017 term.  Julie previously clerked for Judge Marsha S. Berzon of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and Judge James E. Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Altshuler Berzon LLP Thanks Its 2016 Summer Associates

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Altshuler Berzon LLP is extremely grateful to its 2016 Summer Associates, who were wonderful colleagues and performed exemplary legal work: Lisa Bixby (Stanford Law School), Ming Cheung (Harvard Law School), Hannah Kieschnick (Stanford Law School), Zach Manfredi (Yale Law School), and AdĂĄn MartĂ­nez (Yale Law School).

Additionally, Altshuler Berzon LLP congratulates them on accepting post-graduation clerkships with federal judges:

Lisa Bixby will be clerking for Judge Richard A. Paez of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit for the 2017-18 term.

Ming Cheung will be clerking for Judge Roger L. Gregory of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit for the 2017-18 term and for Judge Valerie Caproni of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York for the 2018-20 terms.

Hannah Kieschnick will be clerking for Judge Stephen R. Reinhardt of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit for the 2017-18 term and for Judge Christopher R. Cooper of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for the 2018-19 term.

The law firm typically hires four or five summer associates each year. Information about recruiting is available by clicking here.

 

Altshuler Berzon LLP Welcomes New Partner Casey Pitts

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Altshuler Berzon LLP is pleased to announce that P. Casey Pitts became a member of the partnership on January 1, 2017.  Casey is a 2008 graduate of Yale Law School.  He joined Altshuler Berzon as an associate in 2009 after completing a clerkship with Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.  He is a member of the amicus and judiciary committees of BALIF, the San Francisco Bay Area’s LGBT bar association, a volunteer attorney with the Workers’ Rights Clinic of Legal Aid at Work, and was named a “Rising Star” in the 2016 Northern California Super Lawyers listings in San Francisco Magazine.  As a partner, Casey will continue his practice focusing on representing workers, labor unions, consumers, and public interest organizations in complex impact and appellate litigation.