“During a recession, many employers come under in- creased pressure to cut costs, and that can sometimes result in cutting corners on wages or terminating work- ers who are otherwise protected—people on medical or maternity leave, for example.”
Despite the reluctance on the part of some employees to pursue a case in tough times, Lowe has had a very busy year so far. Lowe specializes in a broad spectrum of em- ployment issues and handles both individual cases and class actions. Having worked with his colleague Mark Rudy and attended the Straus Institute for Dispute Res- olution at Pepperdine University School of Law, Lowe is also a trained mediator.
In 2011, Lowe has litigated a major sexual harassment case and a breach of contract case and is currently pre- paring for two arbitrations involving significant unpaid commissions. He is also litigating a class action asserting that a financial services firm misclassified its salespersons as independent contractors, and he recently filed a class action alleging that Equinox Fitness member advisors are being illegally denied overtime pay.
Lowe grew up immersed in the world of plaintiff ’s work. “My dad is a plaintiff ’s lawyer,” he says. “I grew up un- derstanding that lawyers have a unique opportunity to help people in very concrete ways, and, at the same time, lawyers can advance and protect civil rights. Particularly in employment law, you can do both: help people in their day-to-day lives and enforce basic civil rights.”
But doing this kind of work can be frustrating. “Litiga- tion is expensive and inefficient,” he says. “The results
are sometimes arbitrary and unfair. It’s an imperfect way of achieving justice.” And that’s where working as a me- diator is appealing. “It’s incredibly satisfying to resolve a legal problem in a day,” he adds.
His membership with BASF also keeps his practice en- riched. “We are a small firm in a niche practice,” he says. “BASF allows me to interact with lawyers in different areas of the law. You get to know top notch lawyers prac- ticing entertainment law, antitrust, and criminal law. I’ve gotten to know people who work in government, the big firms, and nonprofits.”
He currently serves on BASF’s Board of Directors and the Judiciary Committee and is chair of the Labor and Employment Section. He is also a member of the LGBT Issues Subcommittee. Outside of BASF, Lowe is chair of the International Bar Association’s Discrimination Committee and serves on the Board of Directors of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and the ACLU Lawyers’ Council Steering Committee.
Nina Schuyler is a lawyer whose first novel, The Paint- ing, was published in 2004. Her new novel, Accidental Birds, will be published in fall 2011. She can be reached at
ninaschuyler@hotmail.com.
THE BAR ASSOCIATION OF SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO ATTORNEY 41
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