RIFs, WARN, and AI: Key Considerations for Employers

Laurie A. Baddon focuses her practice on employment litigation and counseling. She provides trusted and strategic advice to clients of all sizes, from family offices and high-net-worth individuals to Fortune 500 companies, on day-to-day employment-related issues to ensure compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws. She advises clients on matters ranging from personnel management decisions, leaves of absence, workplace accommodations, workplace investigations, pre-litigation disputes, executive compensation, employment agreements, restrictive covenants, reductions in force, and workplace policies, procedures, and handbooks. She also conducts employment diligence in mergers and acquisitions of all sizes and advises buyers on workforce integration and risk mitigation post-closing.

Laurie defends employers in all stages of employment litigation including in class action and single plaintiff wage and hour lawsuits and in harassment, discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination, misclassification, and breach of contract claims. She advocates for clients in federal and state courts and administrative agencies, including proceedings before the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Brian Casillas focuses his practice on all aspects of employment litigation and counseling. He has experience in California and federal civil procedure including discovery, motion practice, defending depositions and negotiating settlements. He represents clients against claims under the Fair Employment & Housing Act, Labor Code, Cal/OSHA and Americans with Disabilities Act. Brian also advises corporate clients and individuals across various industries including technology, manufacturing, real estate and construction.

Brian was a certified law clerk for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office in the Appellate Division and the Airport Courthouse Preliminary Hearing Unit. He also served as a judicial extern for the US Bankruptcy Court of the Central District of California for the Honorable Robert Kwan.

During law school, Brian was a chief note and comment editor for the Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Review and was the team coach for the Uvaldo Herrera Hispanic National Moot Court Team.

Brad Giordano is a partner in the Business Restructuring group. Brad focuses his practice on representing debtors, creditors, direct lenders, ad hoc groups, sponsors and strategic investors in all aspects of complex in-court and out-of-court corporate restructurings.

Brad is frequently consulted by leading private equity investors, hedge funds, and private credit lenders on domestic and international insolvency and restructuring issues, as well as on strategic acquisitions or dispositions of distressed assets. Brad has played a key role in some of the most significant corporate reorganization cases across a variety of industries, including among others, healthcare, retail, energy, technology, hospitality, media, airlines, aircraft manufacturing, telecom and heavy machinery.

Recognized as a leading restructuring lawyer by Chambers USA, among other publications, Brad has earned praise from clients for being “thoughtful, responsive, and aggressive,” “commercial in every sense,” and delivering “much better than expected outcomes.” Additionally, Brad was listed by the American Bankruptcy Institute as a recipient of their 40 Under 40 Award.

Abigail M. Kagan is an experienced labor and employment advisor on matters ranging from day-to-day human resources (HR) counseling to complex transaction strategy. Abigail’s practice balances  regulatory compliance with tangible short- and long-term goals. This includes internal investigations, executive contracts, Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)  and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) disability accommodations, discrimination and harassment, industry-tailored personnel policies, wage and hour audits, reductions in force, workplace health and safety, workplace violence, employee mobility and non-compete enforcement, gig workers, and workforce integration and rebadging.

Clients turn to Abigail for her practical recommendations and simple yet elegant solutions. Abigail holds a master’s in public health, and her decades of working alongside healthcare leaders make her particularly attuned to the unique challenges facing healthcare employers.

Abigail is a member of McDermott Will & Schulte’s Pro Bono Committee and the Gender Diversity Committee.