Gardena Lawyers

Attorney Hines represents employees with claims against their employers for harassment, discrimination, retaliation and Labor Code violations.

Annabel Blanchard is an associate attorney who represents individuals in wage and hour class actions and representative actions under the California Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA). Prior to joining Blackstone, PC, Ms. Blanchard worked at a respected plaintiff’s-side employment law firm, where she focused on obtaining court approval of large-scale class and PAGA settlements. Before practicing wage-and-hour employment law, Ms. Blanchard worked at boutique law firms providing estate planning services to families, with a focus on special needs planning and conservatorship. As a part of her estate planning practice, Ms. Blanchard served on the Los Angeles Superior Court “Court Appointed...

Noriya Bragg is an Associate Attorney at Blackstone Law. Prior to joining Blackstone Law, she worked as a Law Clerk for a highly respected civil rights firm in Los Angeles where she gained experience working on matters ranging from employment discrimination to police misconduct. Ms. Bragg holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science with a minor in Philosophy of Law from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Ms. Bragg earned her Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Davis School of Law (Martin Luther King Jr. Hall), where she worked as a Research Assistant to Professor Irene O. Joe and...

Ashley Cruz is an employment attorney who has spent her entire career pursuing justice and advocating for people across the United States. Her passion for upholding, asserting, and defending the rights of others has guided her throughout her career. Ashley has represented children in abuse and neglect proceedings, individuals and families in deportation proceedings, and workers actively seeking legal recourse. Her self-imposed requirement for nothing less than excellent representation, coupled with her dedication to helping others, has received praise from clients, judges, mediators, and fellow professionals. Ashley litigates in the area of labor and employment law. She has handled harassment, discrimination,...

Mr. Dietz has aggressively litigated civil cases in California for over a decade. He has represented government agencies in high-profile employment law, general liability and civil rights matters, including representing some of the largest school districts in California. His prior experience includes working at one of the largest firms in the U.S., as well as a highly respected litigation boutique, where he represented the full gamut of businesses from Fortune 500 companies to mom-and-pop shops in employment and business litigation matters in state and federal court and administrative bodies. Over the course of his career, Mr. Dietz...

Barbara is dedicated to fighting for the rights of California’s employees in both individual and class/PAGA cases. As a working mom, Barbara has a particular passion for vindicating the rights of women who have suffered discrimination and harassment in the workplace. Barbara was also co-counsel on Young v. Department of Public Social Services, et al, a retaliation/whistleblower case, and obtained the 7th highest employment law verdict in California in 2022. Presently, Barbara and her team focus on litigating class and PAGA actions on behalf of thousands of California employees who have been denied meal and rest periods, denied fair compensation, and...

Alex is a Senior Associate Attorney at Blackstone Law. Alex is an active member of the legal community as it relates to employees’ rights. Alex is a member of the California Employment Lawyers’ Association (CELA), and is on the committee for the Mentor Committee, the Women’s Committee, the Legislative Committee, the Wage and Hour Committee, and the New Member Committee, as well as a recent admit to the 2024 – 2025 CELA Leadership Conservatory. Alex has significant experience providing the best counsel for his clients, whether through trial, or through multimillion dollar settlements, or through whatever need the client may describe....

Imad Elias is a founding partner of The Law Offices of Mann & Elias, a Los Angeles based law firm handling employment law and personal injury cases. Contact Mann & Elias at (323) 857-9500 for a free consultation.

Joana Fang is a Senior Associate Attorney with expertise in class action, employment litigation, personal injury, insurance litigation, and consumer protection laws. Ms. Fang has extensive experience in case management and all aspects of litigation, from drafting complaints to engaging in the discovery process, settlement negotiations, and preparing for trial. During her legal career, she has recovered millions of dollars for her clients. Ms. Fang is also a prolific writer who has written and published numerous articles on Law360, The Recorder, and Daily Journal. She has also led seminars on using depositions at trial and on litigating sexual abuse cases against schools...

Alex Favela serves as the firm’s Pre-Litigation Attorney and specializes in disputes involving wage and hour violations, misclassification, harassment, discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination, failure to accommodate violations, and class actions. Alex received his J.D. from Stanford Law School. As a child of immigrant working-class parents, upholding the dignity of workers is central to Alex’s identity as a lawyer. A person’s job is their livelihood, and Alex strongly believes that workers deserve to be treated with respect and fairness. Before joining the firm, Alex represented workers at a respected employment plaintiff-side law firm. He has also clerked for the U.S. Office of Special...

Ms. Gold is an experienced litigation attorney who specializes in class action labor and employment matters. She spent the first decade of her career at a major law firm working on a wide range of business matters, including defending clients in high-stakes class action litigation. This experience provided Ms. Gold with valuable insight on how to best position cases for settlement and/or trial by allowing her to better understand defendants’ strategies, incentives, and motivations throughout the various phases of litigation. Ms. Gold then transitioned to a well-known boutique plaintiff-side class action law firm, where she was instrumental in obtaining nearly $100,000,000...

Danielle L. GruppChang is a passionate advocate for workers’ rights and a seasoned attorney specializing in wage and hour class actions. Raised in a family where both parents worked in the restaurant industry, Ms. GruppChang developed an early respect for the hard work and resilience of the Californian workers. This background exposed Ms. GruppChang the struggles of working-class individuals sparked her dedication to fighting for justice on behalf of workers. Ms. GruppChang’s professional journey began when she started working at a local coffee shop and continued throughout college where she worked tables, often serving her classmates. These experiences further resolved her...

Lara is an associate attorney at Blackstone Law. She graduated from Wake Forest University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology with a concentration in Criminal Justice and a minor in Communications. Lara then earned her Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Los Angeles where she specialized in Critical Race Studies. While in law school, Lara worked as a law clerk at the District of Columbia Public Defender Service and as a judicial clerk in the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Hearings Unit in Los Angeles. She was involved with the El Centro Teen Court Clinic, Disability Law Journal,...

Leo Livshits is an accomplished employment attorney with extensive trial and litigation experience. Mr. Livshits handles a wide variety of employment matters involving workplace discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and other civil rights violations. Aside from securing numerous seven-figure settlements in single-plaintiff cases, Mr. Livshits has co-chaired jury trials and arbitrations that resulted in verdicts or judgments of $155.4 million, $2.7 million, $1.7 million, and $1 million. Additionally, Mr. Livshits has successfully litigated appeals in state and federal court. This includes a published decision in Hernandez v. Meridian Management Services, LLC (2023) 87 Cal.App.5th 1214, where the California Court of Appeal found that...

Betty is an associate attorney at Blackstone Law. She graduated from UCLA with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science with a concentration in International Relations and a minor in Armenian Studies. While in undergrad, Betty, along with fellow classmates, started the Armenian Pre-Law Students Association, to connect Armenian students aspiring to become attorneys to successful alumni within their community. A proud double Bruin, Betty later attended UCLA School of Law, where she obtained her Juris Doctorate. As a law student, Betty’s professor recognized her articulate writing abilities and selected her as a Legal Research and Writing Advisor for first...

Ms. Schimmel’s practice is dedicated to employment litigation matters on behalf of California employees. More than half of Ms. Schimmel’s experience has been focused on representing employees in wage and hour class and representative actions for labor code violations (including, but not limited to, claims unpaid overtime, minimum wages, expense reimbursement, meal and rest period), as well as consumer and privacy right matters. Ms. Schimmel’s experience also includes representing employees in wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment and retaliation matters against employers who violate California law. She has successfully prosecuted and resolved hundreds of cases. Prior to joining Blackstone, Ms. Schimmel...

For more than 40 years, Randall Spencer has been protecting clients that have been in actual or threatened litigation. Mr. Spencer began his legal career in Chicago, where he was heavily involved in bankruptcy, creditors' rights, and business litigation in the state and federal courts. Mr. Spencer then moved to Southern California to become Assistant General Counsel to USA Petroleum, Inc.,where he represented the company in civil litigation, retained and monitored outside counsel, and advised senior management on company policy and regulatory compliance.
Mr. Spencer has a long history of...

Daniel R. Freytag is Of Counsel with Meyer Wilson, LPA. He was born in Napoleon Ohio and earned his B.A. at Wittenberg University where he graduated magna cum laude. He went on to attend the Moritz College of Law at the Ohio State University and earned his J.D. summa cum laude. Mr. Freytag has been a trial lawyer for more than thirty-four years and has represented hundreds of large corporations, small businesses, professionals, and individuals in a variety of complex tort, insurance, and business cases. He has personally examined or cross-examined more than 1000 lay witnesses and more than 150 expert...

Entertainment lawyer Joshua R. Lastine protects the artistry and livelihood of actors, production companies, writers, producers, directors, animators, social media influencers, and podcasters. A strategic negotiator, a fierce advocate for talent, and a practical problem solver, Lastine strengthens his counsel with an indelible passion for show business, its players, and creators. Lastine understands how to structure and close the deals shaping the future of the entertainment industry. Recent examples include critically acclaimed streaming series, musicians’ NFTs, and mixed-reality productions in the Metaverse. Lastine’s experience in Studio business and legal affairs includes positions with ViacomCBS, Lions Gate, Marvel Studios, Starz, Discovery...

Attorney Joseph Cohen is a UCLA Law and MBA alumnus. Before opening Cohen Counsel, he worked for Paul Hastings LLP. Cohen Counsel is a true family law firm dedicated to serving you and those you care for. In addition to the usual Divorce, Spousal Support, Child Support Modification, Child Custody, Prenuptial Agreements, Restraining Orders and other more drastic family law services, we offer estate planning and corporate law counsel in order to be your full service family attorney.

My practice focuses on vindicating employees’ rights in single plaintiff discrimination suits, wage & hour class and representative action litigation, and other employment claims. Education I received his Bachelor of Arts in History, summa cum laude, with a minor in Public Affairs from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). I earned his Juris Doctor from UC Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall), where he was awarded a Prosser Prize for his academic achievement. Experience As a former associate at Anderson Kill P.C., a Vault 150 leading mid-size law firm specializing in insurance coverage litigation, I gained significant experience litigating against insurance companies on behalf...

With more than 20 years of experience, Tre Lovell has been noted among the elite trial lawyers in the nation, having been named "Lawyer of the Year" Finalist, 2016, by the Los Angeles Business Journal, and further honored by The National Law Journal as one of the Top 50 Litigation Trailblazers in the United States. Mr. Lovell has been recognized among the top 1% of attorneys in the country as a litigator through such esteemed organizations as America's Top 100 Attorneys, Distinguished Justice Advocates, National Academy of Jurisprudence, Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum and Rue's Best Attorneys of America. In addition,...

Ken Ruttenberg is the founder of The Ruttenberg Law Firm, P.C.. He is an experienced and seasoned civil litigator in a broad range of legal areas including employment, construction and personal injury.

In 2014 through 2017, Ken was selected to the list of Southern California Super Lawyers, a rating service of outstanding lawyers who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Fewer than five percent of attorneys receive the Super Lawyers recognition. In 2015, 2016 and 2017, Ken was named among the Top 100 Southern California Super Lawyers. Ken is also an AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review...

Based in Los Angeles, where he has practiced for since 1974, Mr. Millar has represented clients in diverse businesses in domestic and complex cross-border transactions. He is skilled at international tax planning and international and domestic tax controversy and compliance matters for entrepreneurial companies, high net worth individuals, ex-patriot executives, permanent residents and dual nationals.

Mark is a capital markets attorney known among his colleagues for his expertise in corporate and securities law. He counsels clients in raising capital online (tokens, coins, STOs, digital assets and other "securities"). He offers unique insight and perspective to his clients because of his experience in private practice representing both public and private companies in business transactions and courtroom securities litigation for more than twenty-five years and serving in senior positions as an attorney with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and as a Special Assistant United States Attorney for eight years. While Mark's clients include other attorneys, his passion...

Mr. Saba’s practice consists of prosecuting and defending individual, class action and mass action claims. He has considerable experience in a wide range of federal and state civil litigation and trial actions, including consumer litigation, employment litigation, women’s rights, complex business and entertainment disputes, catastrophic injury claims, professional responsibility, copyright/trademark, civil rights, maritime, and municipal, landowner and product liability.

I have practiced immigration law for almost 25 years, particularly in the areas of business immigration, investor-trader visas, visas for professionals, scientists, academics, artists and musicians, entertainers, athletes, and religious workers. I can obtained both family-related and employer-related permanent residence visas ("Green Cards"), as well as U.S. citizenship by naturalization or through descent. I can advise you on dual-citizenship issues, including multi-national taxation and estate planning. I have a specialty in NAFTA-related immigration. I have published scholarly articles on NAFTA immigration.

Mick Longo is an attorney licensed to practice law in the States of California, Florida, North Carolina and Oregon. Motivated by an entrepreneurial desire to change the way law firms operate, Mr. Longo founded Longo & Alach LLP with partner Patrick Alach in 2009. In 2013, Mr. Longo orchestrated and oversaw Longo & Alach LLP’s expansion to Miami, Florida and then in 2015 he expanded the firm again to Charlotte, North Carolina. His practice areas include Entertainment Law, Sports Law, Business Law, Cannabis Law, Hospitality Law, Real Estate Law, Privacy Law and Legislative Advocacy.

Mr. Longo represents a myriad...

With degrees from both UCLA and Loyola Law School, and a specialty from UCLA in Entertainment Studies with an emphasis in Film and Film Finance, Mitra has worked in legal affairs at MTV, has worked on the merger of 2 major record labels, and has been of-counsel to several high-profile copyright infringement cases involving artists and major studios. Her entertainment practice specializes in film and entertainment financing, negotiating and structuring artist and production deals, and all Intellectual Property matters, including rights clearance, licensing, copyrights, trademarks, and patents. Mitra’s film practice specializes in intellectual property, film finance, corporate law, and production...

Steven Toscher is a tax attorney and principal of the law firm of Hochman, Salkin, Rettig, Toscher & Perez, P.C., Beverly Hills, California where he specializes in civil and criminal tax litigation. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Southern California, School of Accounting, where he teaches Federal Tax Procedure. Mr. Toscher is a Certified Tax Specialist in Taxation, the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization, a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel and has received an “AV” rating from Martindale Hubble. He is a past...

Glen Nuttall is a seasoned attorney that counsels clients in all aspects of intellectual property law. He helps clients develop and implement strategies that use patents, trademarks and other intellectual property to add value to their company. He also helps clients avoid or overcome the intellectual property of others.

Glen’s skills and experience include helping engineers identify and preserve inventions, preparing and prosecuting patents and trademarks in the U.S. and foreign countries, developing and maintaining complex patent and trademark portfolios, conducting Patent Office proceedings, such as Inter Partes Reviews, to challenge or defend patent validity, performing infringement and invalidity...