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Contents Volume 38, Number 4, APRIL 2011


Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Ehrlich


Associate Editors Joseph Barrett, Mary Bennett, Christa Haggai-Ramey, Joan Kessler, James Kristy, Beverly Pine, Norman Pine, Rahul Ravipudi, Linda Rice, Ibiere Seck, Geraldine Weiss


Editors-in-Chief Emeriti Kevin Meenan, William Daniels, Steven Stevens, Christine Spagnoli, Thomas Stolpman


Managing Editor Cindy Cantu cindy@caala.org


Copy Editor Eileen Goss


Publisher Richard Neubauer


Art Director David Knopf


Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles President Philip Michels


Treasurer Joseph Barrett


President-Elect Michael Alder


First Vice President Lisa Maki


Second Vice President Geoffrey Wells


Secretary David Ring


Immediate Past President Garo Mardirossian


Executive Director Stuart Zanville


Board of Governors Mike Arias, Michael Armitage, Todd Bloomfield, John Blumberg, Michael Cohen, Scott Corwin, Carl Douglas, Ricardo Echeverria, Jeffrey Ehrlich, Mayra Fornos, Maryann Gallagher, Victor George, Steve Goldberg, Christa Haggai- Ramey, Genie Harrison, Steven Heimberg, Elizabeth Hernandez, David Hoffman, Arash Homampour, Neville Johnson, William Karns, James Kristy, Lawrence Lallande, Scott Marks, Shawn McCann, Jill McDonell, Gretchen Nelson, William Newkirk, Minh Nguyen, Thomas Peters, Linda Fermoyle Rice, David Rosen, Jeffrey Rudman, Ibiere Seck, Adam Shea, Carney Shegerian, Douglas Silverstein, Steven Stevens, Armen Tashjian, Geraldine Weiss, Jeff Westerman, Ronnivashti Whitehead, Andrew Wright, Daniel Zohar


Orange County Trial Lawyers Association


President Yoshiaki Kubota


President-Elect Douglas Schroeder


First Vice President Scott Cooper


Second Vice President Casey Johnson


Third Vice President Ted Wacker


Secretary Vincent Howard


Treasurer H. Shaina Colover


Parliamentarian Geraldine Ly


Immediate Past President Anne Andrews


Executive Director Janet Thornton


Board of Directors Melinda Bell, Gregory Brown, Brent Caldwell, Jonathan Dwork, Jerry Gans, Robert Gibson, Cynthia Craig, Kevin Liebeck, B. James Pantone, Christopher Purcell, Solange Ritchie, Sarah Serpa, Adina Stern, Kimberly Valentine, Dieter Zacher


Periodicals postage paid at Los Angeles, California.


Copyright © 2011 by the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited.


ADVOCATE (ISSN 0199-1876) is published monthly at the subscription rate of $50 for 12 issues per year by the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, 800 West Sixth Street, #700, Los Angeles, CA 90017 (213) 487-1212 Fax (213) 487-1224 www.caala.org


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6— The Advocate Magazine APRIL 2011 rn@theadvocatemagazine.com


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Contents Features:


22


Maintaining your wage-and-hour class action in state court The enactment of the Class Action Fairness Act has made it easier for a defendant to remove a class action to federal court and the struggle over venue is often an important indicator of an employer’s exposure and risk. The authors explore how class counsel can avoid removal of their action to federal court or get it remanded to state court. Shawn Khorrami and Crystal S. Yagoobian


Telling your employment story with graphic images Good trials are not just about words, they require visual storytelling through carefully-selected images. The author illustrates the integration of thematic visuals into your employment trial through the example of a particular employment case. David M. deRubertis


When the defense gets offensive Increasingly, employers are heeding the old adage, “the best defense is a good offense” and responding to employment lawsuits with countersuits or threats of same. Here are tips on responding to the defendant’s offensive conduct, including ways in which plaintiff’s counsel can use it to their advantage. Iris Weinmann


Navigating around favorite defense arguments Defendants frequently raise the same old arguments in employment cases. This author exposes the most common of these “old shoes” and suggests ways in which plaintiffs may respond. Beverly Tillett Pine


Avoiding discovery wars Using the strategy of Aikido, a Japanese martial art, you can beat the opposition by playing the game with a different approach but without surrendering your civility or professionalism. John P. Blumberg


Discrimination and retaliation cases The authors analyze four recent appellate decisions that have expanded the scope of evidence employees may obtain in discovery and introduce at trial to prove discrimination and entitlement to punitive damages; includes a discussion of the impact on settlement and litigation strategy for both employees and employers. Lee Feldman and Gina Browne


Making rights real: Effectively representing immigrants Protecting the rights of immigrant clients in employment and personal injury cases Jennifer A. Reisch


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Submitting articles for publication: Check the annual editorial calendar at www.theadvocatemagazine.com to see when your legal topic would be most appropriate. Articles on time sensitive matters are welcome throughout the year, as are opinion columns, humor pieces, human-interest stories, lifestyle and personality features. Send your article as a WordPerfect or Word document attachment to e-mail: editor@theadvocatemagazine.com. Please check the website for complete editorial requirements.


Reprint permission: E-mail written request to Managing Editor Cindy Cantu: cindy@caala.org


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