James Severson

Jim Severson is one of Bingham’s most experienced labor and employment lawyers, having focused on labor and employment litigation and counseling for more than 30 years. He has tried and argued cases in California and numerous federal courts throughout the United States.

Jim focuses on wage and hour class actions, in which he has defended claims of employee misclassification, denials of meal and break periods, and other violations of the California Wage Orders and the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). He represented clients in misclassification of executive and administrative employees; denial of overtime pay; failure to properly reimburse employees for business expenses; alleged violation of waiting time, record-keeping and reporting time pay obligations; and the plethora of penalties that California law imposes for such violations. Among other matters, Jim obtained an extraordinary ruling in a nationwide FLSA collective action involving more than 17,000 class members, in which he was successful in heading off an early certification attempt by plaintiffs, knocking out the FLSA case. He also recently assisted a client with a nationwide DOL alleged misclassification investigation and resolution.

In addition to his wage and hour work, Jim’s practice throughout the years has run the gamut of labor and employment litigation and counseling matters, including numerous individual discrimination and wrongful discharge cases (many of which were concluded by summary judgment in the employer’s favor and upheld on appeal); trade secret and unfair competition cases; traditional labor matters, including unfair labor practice hearings before the National Labor Relations Board; strike and picketing injunction proceedings in both state and federal courts; assistance with negotiating and drafting project labor agreements for private construction projects; and representation of clients in public works “prevailing wage” administrative litigation.

Jim has written numerous articles and given speeches on a variety of labor and employment topics, including ADA/FMLA/CFRA compliance, drug testing, employee privacy and trade secret protection. He also regularly conducts seminars and trainings on employment-related topics for his clients.

Good to know

Areas of Practice 1) Employment and Labor, 2) Employment Compliance, 3) Commercial Litigation, 4) Intellectual Property, 5) Privacy and Security, 6) Energy and 7) Class Actions
Law School The University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, J.D., 1975
Education University of Illinois, M.S., 1968
Bar Member / Association California State Bar Association
Most recent firm Bingham McCutchen LLP
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