Jennifer currently serves as managing partner of the Los Angeles office and is a member of Reed Smith’s Labor & Employment group. She provides management side counselling and litigation defense to employers of all sizes, especially those in the areas of retail, food and beverage, transportation and logistics, life sciences, consumer products, and web-based companies.
Jennifer partners with her clients to understand their business and the particular challenges facing in-house counsel. She has worked with project management consultants to bring efficiencies to her practice so that there is transparency with respect to both budget forecasting and risk assessment.
Jennifer has extensive experience as a litigator, seeing cases through verdict, summary judgment and mediation, particularly for single plaintiff cases involving sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and wrongful termination. Jennifer also defends employers in class and PAGA claims alleging failure to pay overtime, reporting time pay, provide meal and rest breaks, waiting time penalties, among others.
Jennifer counsels in the areas of wage-hour compliance, fair pay, leave laws, reasonable accommodations and the interactive process, and termination. She prepares handbooks and writes policies for employers. She works closely with her clients in pre-litigation and post-filing investigations of employment-related complaints. She has an extensive cadre of best practices trainings she provides to human resources professionals, with particular emphasis on sexual harassment, the administration of leave laws, reasonable accommodations, gender bias, and diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
Jennifer is a Spanish speaker and can provide investigation and presentation services in both English and Spanish.
