Phil Zackler Joins Business/Nonprofit Practice

Phillip Zackler recently joined Minami Tamaki LLP as an Associate in the Business/Nonprofit Practice led by Partner Donald K. Tamaki.

Phil graduated from Duke University School of Law and received his B.A. in Political Science (Phi Beta Kappa) from UC Berkeley. After law school, Phil joined the San Francisco corporate group of Kirkland & Ellis LLP, where he worked on M&A transactions valued from $20 million to $1 billion, secured lending transactions valued from $1.5 million to $400 million, and growth equity transactions valued from $40 million.

Phil has experience counseling executives at both large corporate firms and local small businesses. Since moving to San Francisco, Phil has provided pro bono representation to various entrepreneurs, small businesses and charitable/educational organizations, and has worked on projects with the Lawyers Committee on Civil Rights and the SF Bar Association’s Volunteer Legal Services Program.

At Minami Tamaki, Phil represents privately-held companies, entrepreneurs, and non-profit corporations in a variety of business and financial transactions, and counsels management in the areas of corporate governance, regulatory compliance, employment, commercial leases, dispute resolution, and intellectual property.

A Bay Area native, Phil developed a passion for public service and leadership during his undergraduate years at UC Berkeley. Phil worked as a senior communications advisor in a campaign for North Carolina Lieutenant Governor, organized North Carolina law students for the Obama campaign, and received recognition from Duke Law and the North Carolina state bar for his pro bono work as a student. Phil proudly serves as a Trustee on the Glide Foundation Board of Trustees.

Landmark Brinker Decision Clarifies Employer’s Burden to Provide Breaks, Continues Use of Class Actions

By Kevin R. Allen, CERG Practice

On April 12, 2011, the California Supreme Court issued its decision in Brinker v. Superior Court (S166350). The opinion was highly anticipated because it could have potentially, on one extreme, eliminated wage and hour class actions based on break claims altogether or, on the other extreme, made employers strictly liable for missed breaks regardless of fault.

In finding a middle ground, the decision has a little something for everyone. With respect to meal periods, it held that an employer satisfies its obligation to “provide” a meal period “if it relieves an employee of all duty” for an uninterrupted 30-minute break and does “not impede or discourage” employees from taking this break. Once an employer meets this obligation, it is “not obligated to police meal periods and ensure no work is performed.” The court clarified that the employer must provide a first meal period after no more than five hours work and a second meal period after no more than ten hours of work, as opposed to every five hours as was argued by plaintiffs in the case.

The Supreme Court held that an employer satisfies its burden to “authorize and permit” a 10 minute rest break for each four hours of work “or major fraction thereof” through 10 minutes of rest break time for shifts of three and half hours to six hours, 20 minutes for shifts of more than six hours up to 10 hours, and 30 minutes for shifts or more than 10 hours and up to 14 hours, and so on. Rest breaks can occur at any time during the shift, either before or after the meal period.

Lastly, the Court indicated that there is no per se rule against using the class action device to address meal and rest breaks: “Claims alleging that a uniform policy consistently applied to a group of employees is in violation of the wage and hour laws are of the sort routinely, and properly, found suitable for class treatment.”

Dale Minami Receives Lifetime Achievement Award from Alameda Democratic Group

Partner Dale Minami on March 29 received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Asian Pacific American Democratic Caucus of Alameda County at their 7th Annual Membership Dinner in Oakland Chinatown.

The Caucus also honored Jose Antonio Vargas, a Pulitzer-prizewinning reporter who revealed in mid-2011 that he was an undocumented immigrant, sparking a national discussion about immigration and the impact of immigration policies on Asian Americans.

The Asian Pacific American Democratic Caucus of Alameda County was officially chartered in March 2005. It is the first ever chartered club focusing on Asian Pacific Americans in Alameda County, formed to ensure equal participation in and support from the Democratic Party of Alameda County.

Dale has been recognized as one of the top personal injury attorneys in the Bay Area and leads Minami Tamaki’s Personal Injury practice. He also represents clients in the entertainment industry.

Kevin Allen on SCU Law Panel on Employment Law

Minami Tamaki LLP Associate Kevin R. Allen was one of three attorney panelists at the March 28 Employment Law Practice panel presented by the Labor and Employment Law Society at the Santa Clara University School of Law.

Kevin, an SCU alumni from 2005, was asked to participate in order to provide the plaintiffs’ perspective and to discuss issues related to litigating complex wage and hour class actions. The other panelists included defense attorneys, and fellow SCU alumni, Ernie M. Malaspina, a shareholder at Hopkins & Carley in San Jose and Alisha Louie, an associate at San Francisco’s Payne & Fears LLP.

Kevin graduated from SCU’s law school in the top 10 percent of his class. He was also a Technical Editor for the Santa Clara Law Review and received a Witkin award in both Antitrust and Criminal Procedure.