Five Fisher Phillips Attorneys Listed in 2014 Southern California "Rising Stars" Honors Come as Los Angeles Office Expands

LOS ANGELES & IRVINE (June 10, 2014) – Fisher Phillips announced today that amidst plans for expansion, two of its top partners in the Los Angeles office have been named to the 2014 Southern California Rising Stars list as selected by Super Lawyers. Managing partner of the Los Angeles office, Todd Scherwin, and Lonnie D. Giamela, partner, were both honored on the list that recognizes attorneys who are 40 or younger, excelling in their practice and building the foundation for a long and prosperous career.  Usama Kahf, Boris Sorsher and Lizbeth Ochoa in the Irvine office were also listed.

Scherwin has been managing partner since February 2013. He has been a leader in hiring and nurturing new talent while also securing high-profile lateral hires. The Los Angeles office recently expanded its space under Scherwin’s leadership. The new space will be unveiled at an office warming reception on Thursday, June 19.

In his practice, Scherwin provides employment-related counseling to clients and speaks to employers and related groups about labor and employment issues, focusing on harassment, discrimination and retaliation matters, along with wage and hour issues. He also currently teaches California Labor and Employment Law to management students at California State University, Long Beach. Scherwin has litigated single plaintiff and wage-hour class action matters in state and federal court, as well as matters before federal and state administrative agencies, including the Department of Labor, the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement and the Department of Fair Employment and Housing.

This is Scherwin’s fourth consecutive year to be named to the Rising Stars list. He has also been selected as one of 50 attorneys on The Recorder’s Fast Track list. He earned his juris doctor from the University of Southern California’s Gould School of Law and his bachelor’s degree in Political Science with honors from the University of California, San Diego, where he played college baseball.

A native of Burbank, Giamela has cemented his reputation and practice in Southern California by representing clients from small businesses to auto dealerships to Fortune 500 companies in a myriad of issues ranging from fair employment to intellectual property, wage and hour, independent contractor classification and medical leaves. He has made more than 200 presentations to human resource and business groups on wide-ranging topics that affect employee relations. Giamela’s practice includes both preventative counseling, preparation of documents such as employee handbooks and compensation plans and litigation before state and federal administrative agencies and court.

Giamela earned his juris doctor from Georgetown University Law Center and his bachelor’s degree from George Washington University.

Kahf counsels employers in all aspects of labor and employment law, including wage and hour, harassment, discrimination, retaliation, employee discipline and termination, and trade secrets. He also regularly advises clients on workplace investigations and employee classification issues, as well as on document retention and preservation obligations under state and federal law.

Ochoa represents employers on various employment-related matters, including discrimination, unlawful harassment, wrongful termination, unfair business practices and wage and hour issues. She has experience litigating employment matters in state and federal courts as well as in state and federal administrative agencies such as the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, the EEOC and others.

Sorsher focuses his practice area in all areas of labor and employment law, including defense of class actions. He has successfully represented clients in mediation, arbitration, as well as state and federal court proceedings.

Super Lawyers selects attorneys using peer nominations and evaluations that are combined with third-party research. Each candidate is evaluated on 12 indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement. Selections are made on an annual, state-by-state basis.