Biographies

Attorneys

Clement J. Kong
(Leads Litigation, General Business, Internal Investigations and EEOC and DFEH Compliance Areas, and Sacramento Office)

University of California, Berkeley 1972 (B.A., with distinction), University of California, Davis 1975 (J.D.), admitted to bar, 1976, California; 1976, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California; 1976, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California; 2001, U.S. Supreme Court; Author: Report on Environmental Assessment of Pesticide Regulatory Programs, California Dept. of Food & Agriculture, September 1978, Chapter 6 Current Regulatory System and Chapter 7, Permits; State Bar of California (Member, Section on Labor and Employment Law), Sacramento Bar Association, American Bar Association, Asian Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area, Asian Bar Association of Sacramento; Capitol City Trial Lawyers Association; 1981-82, Board of Directors, Asian Bar Association of Sacramento; 1992-1993, Board of Director, Asian Community Center, Inc.; Selected by his peers for inclusion in the publication California Super Lawyers®; has been practicing since 1976 and has substantial litigation and corporate counseling experience; fluent in Cantonese.

Mr. Kong has obtained successful jury verdicts in many civil and criminal cases, including Neary v. Regents of the University of California, Alameda County Superior Court ($7 million libel verdict) and Kam Yu v. Borden, Inc. ($800,000 personal injury verdict).  He has arbitrated and mediated multi-million dollar cases both as a plaintiff and defense lawyer.  Since 1991, he has focused on employment defense litigation. 

Stuart R. Korshak
(Leads Collective Bargaining and Policy Development Areas and Los Angeles Office)

Yale 1969 (B.A., Magna Cum Laude), University of California, Davis 1975 (J.D.), admitted to bar, 1976, California; 1977, U.S. District Court, Central District of California; 1981, U.S. Supreme Court; 1984, U.S. District Court, Southern District of California; Author: Good Union Relationships Are Best, Workforce, February 2001;  Labor-Management Partnership: San Francisco’s Hotels and the Employees’ Union Try a New Approach, Cornell Quarterly, April 2000; Negotiating Trust in the San Francisco Hotel Industry, California Management Review, Fall 1995, Arbitrating the Termination of a Union Activist, Personnel Journal, January 1982; Member: Los Angeles County and American Bar Associations (Member, Section on Labor Law); State Bar of California (Member, Section on Labor and Employment Law); has been practicing since 1976 and has substantial experience in all areas of labor and employment law.

Mr. Korshak is labor counsel to multi-employer groups and individual companies in various industries throughout the United States, including hotel and casino owners and management companies; wine and spirits distributors; sports, convention service, airport and food service companies; aviation companies, and others. He specializes in proactive labor management relations where he is generally successful in having his clients and their unions work cooperatively together to settle their contracts and to resolve their respective issues without litigation or confrontation. (See Law Firm Articles and Speeches and Media Reports on this website.)

Richard J. Kracoff
(Leads Policy Development, Internal Investigation and Collective Bargaining Practices)

Dartmouth 1981 (A.B., magna cum laude), Stanford 1984 (J.D.), Phi Beta Kappa; admitted to bar, 1984, California; 1985, U.S. District Court, Central and Southern Districts of California; 1988, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California; 1990, United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit; 1992, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California; Member: Century City, Los Angeles County and American Bar Associations (Member, Section on Labor Law); State Bar of California (Member, Section on Labor and Employment Law); has practiced in the labor area since 1984 with experience in all areas of labor and employment law.

Takashi R. ("T.R.") Sugano
(Leads Insurance Defense Practice)

University of California, Davis 1967 (B.A.), University of California, Davis 1968 (M.A.), University of California, Berkeley 1972 (J.D.); admitted to bar, 1972, California; 1972, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California; Member: Sacramento Bar Association, Asian Bar Association of Sacramento; State Bar of California; 1986-87, Board of Directors, Asian Bar Association of Sacramento; 1986-91, Pro Tem Referee for Sacramento County Juvenile Court; 1988-91, Pro Tem Settlement Conference judge for Sacramento County Superior Court, CEB Lecturer: "Fundamentals of Civil Litigation Before Trial"; elected into the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA); has been in practice since 1972 and has substantial litigation experience.

Mr. Sugano's trial experience includes extensive civil litigation in various areas, including employment and insurance defense.

Mamoru Sakuma

University of California, Berkeley 1940 (A.B.), University of California, Hastings College of Law 1949 (LL.B.), admitted to bar, 1950, California; 1950, U.S. District Court, Northern and Eastern District of California; 1956, U.S. Supreme Court; Member: Sacramento County Bar Association and Asian Bar Association of Sacramento; 1989-1990, Adjunct Professor at the University of Northern California Law School; Judge Pro-Tem District Court of Appeals, 3rd District; Judicial Arbitration & Mediation Services, Inc. (J.A.M.S.); 1985-1986, President, Asian Bar Association of Sacramento.

Mr. Sakuma was in private practice from 1950 to 1964 and served as Judge of the Sacramento Municipal Court 1964-1966 and Judge of the Sacramento Superior Court from 1966-1985.  Since retiring from the bench in 1985, he has returned to private practice with our firm, with emphasis on trial work.  He is also fluent in Japanese.

Larry E. Lulofs
(Heads Oakland Office)

Stanford University 1971 (B.A. with honors), University of San Francisco Law School, 1979 (J.D.), admitted to bar, 1979, California; U.S. District Court, Central, Northern and Eastern Districts of California; Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.   Memberships: Alameda County Bar Association (Director), State Bar of California (Litigation Section member), American Immigration Lawyers Association.  Published decision: McGreehan v. CSAA (1991) 235 C.A. 3d 1991.  Mr. Lulofs has been practicing since 1979, and has substantial experience in civil litigation, including personal injury and employment litigation, insurance coverage, real estate and business litigation.

William C. Glynn
(Heads Chicago Office and Co-Chairs Collective Bargaining Practice)

Illinois Institute of Technology (B.S. 1971); Northwestern University Graduate School of Management (M.M. 1976); Northwestern University School of Law (J.D., cum laude 1985); admitted to practice in the State of Illinois 1985 and in the District of Columbia 1986; United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois 1996; Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals 1986; Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals 1994; United States Supreme Court 1989; Member of the American Association, Illinois State Bar Association, Chicago Bar Association; Bar Association of the Fifth Federal Circuit and the District of Columbia Bar Association; has been in practice since 1985 and has substantial experience in labor and employment law and commercial litigation.

In addition to litigation defense, Mr. Glynn's employment law practice includes counseling and training for managers and supervisors.  He has delivered workshops and interactive seminars on anti-harassment policies, investigation techniques, and effective strategies for supervisors and leadership, diversity training, Fair Labor Standards Act Training, and related topics.

Jill C. Peterson

University of California, Davis 1982 (B.A.); University of California, Davis 1985 (J.D.).  Member, State Bar of California 1985; Eastern and Northern District Courts and Ninth Circuit of California.  Member State Bar Committee on Professional Conduct (COPRAC) and COPRAC Rules Subcommittee (1992-1995); Chief Deputy and Acting Director, California Department of Fair Employment & Housing (2000-2004).  Ms. Peterson has practiced law for over 15 years.  In addition, she has taught full time at two nationally recognized law schools and spent four years overseeing the largest state civil rights agency in the United States.  Ms. Peterson has also lectured at a number of continuing education programs in the areas of professional ethics and made presentations concerning California’s anti-discrimination laws before statewide and national audiences.  She focuses her practice in the area of employment law: counseling employers, providing training and handling litigation.

Jason J. Kuller

Georgetown University, 1985 (B.S. cum laude), Duke University School of Law, 1989 (J.D., M.A.), admitted to bar, 1990, Texas; 2003, California; United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit; United States District Court, Central District of California; has been in practice since 1990 with substantial experience in motion practice and appeals, as well as all employment law matters.  Mr. Kuller also has substantial experience in harassment policy training.

Christine E. Nentwig

York College of Pennsylvania, 1994 (B.A. cum laude); University of Maryland School of Law, 2000 (J.D.); admitted to bar, 2000, Pennsylvania, 2004, Illinois; has been in practice since 2000 with substantial experience in all aspects of labor and employment law. Ms. Nentwig's background also includes nearly eight years in a corporate setting providing labor relations, human resources and in-house counsel to two Fortune 500 companies.

Keith R. Thorell

University of Southern California, 1995 (B.A., B.A. magna cum laude), Harvard Law School, 1998 (J.D. cum laude), admitted to bar, 1998, California; United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit; United States District Court, Central District of California; has been in practice since 1998 with substantial litigation and appellate experience. Mr. Thorell has significant experience in all facets of employment law including litigating discrimination actions, litigating wage and hour lawsuits, and providing employment-related advice to clients.

James Boyd
(Co-Chairs Business Practice Practice)

Washington and Lee University (B.A., 1968); Hastings College of the Law, University of California (J.D., 1974); New York University (LL.M., Taxation, 1976), admitted to bar, 1974, California; 1977, New York and U.S. Tax Court.  Education. Certified Specialist, Taxation Law, The State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization). Mr. Boyd has substantial experience in Taxation, Business Formation, Business Transactions, and Public Finance.

Lauren Hager

Emory University, 2004 (B.B.A.), University of Miami School of Law, 2007 (J.D.); admitted to bar, 2007Florida, 2008, California.

Human Resource/Employment Consultant

Elizabeth J. du Fresne

(Available on project basis to lead on training and human resource and employment advice issues; based in Miami, Florida)

Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn., 1964 (B.A. with honors); University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida (J. D.) 1966, admitted to bar in Florida '67; U.S.D.C. S. D. Fla. '67; MD. U.S. '68; Sup. Ct. U.S. 1969; 5th Cir. Ct. of App. '67; 11th Cir Ct. of App. '81.  Ms du Fresne began her career with a 4-year stint with Legal Services and had almost 15 years in 2 boutique litigation firms doing plaintiff side employment, civil and criminal trial work [Tobias Simon & Elizabeth du Fresne P.A.; du Fresne & Bradley P.A.].  Then in 1986 she went to Steel Hector & Davis LLP to create and chair their defense side labor and employment advice and litigation department, ultimately managing a 22-person department.  When health reasons dictated her withdrawal from active practice in 2000, she had litigated 376 trials, negotiated 35 CBAs, handled over 250 administrative hearings, and taught trial tactics for over 17 years at the University of Miami School of Law.  Her practice included a specialty of being a lawyer for lawyers....she advised over 50 law firms on their personnel matters.  She has been honored by local, state and nation human resource and equal employment agencies for her work in their field.

Jerry Evans

Management Consultant, formerly Director of Human Resources, Westin St. Francis Hotel from 1979 until September 1996.  In that position he developed human resource policy, conducted employee relations activities, labor relations and training; conducted arbitrations, mediations and employment related investigations; and directed interest based problem resolution and collective bargaining.  Prior to working at the St. Francis he had a successful military career in the United States Army, in both the Infantry and Military Intelligence Branches. He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel. He has a degree in Political Science from UCLA.

Staff Professionals

Edwin Legayada

Legal Assistant, University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines 1965 (B.A.); Ateneo de Manila University 1970 (LL.B.), admitted to bar, 1970, Philippines; has extensive training and experience in labor relations and collective bargaining; fluent in Pilipino.

Lyndsay Cavanagh

Trainer & Legal Assistant, DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois 2000 (B.A. cum laude), formerly a Human Resources Coordinator in the food service industry. She has substantial experience in harassment policy training for supervisors and employees.

Tomoko Sato

Translator & Legal Assistant, Gakushuin Junior College, Tokyo, Japan (A.A.), University of California, Davis 1985 (B.A.), fluent in Japanese.