On April 7, 2025, leading law firms across the nation, including DHKL, filed an amicus brief in a lawsuit brought by the Trump administration’s Department of Justice against Perkins Coie LLP. The case challenged one of President Trump’s five executive orders imposing restrictions on leading law firms in retaliation for the law firms’ or their former attorneys’ politically affiliated work.

On November 16, 2023, Byron Goldstein, James Kan, and others filed an amicus brief in the Court of Appeal for the State of California, First Appellate District, on behalf of The Impact Fund and other public interest organizations that litigate cases under the Fair Employment and Housing Act, the Equal Pay Act, and other anti-discrimination statutes. The brief explains how claims challenging salary-setting practices under FEHA and wage disparities under the EPA are well-suited for class treatment because both address group-based discrimination. A disparate impact claim under FEHA prohibits facially neutral employment practices that have a disproportionately adverse impact on women, and the EPA prohibits employers from paying women less than men for substantially similar work.

Laura L. Ho filed a brief in the Sixth Circuit in Monroe v. FTS USA, LLC on behalf of NELA, supporting plaintiffs’ defense of their trial victory in an FLSA off-the-clock collective action.  The brief focused on the use of representative testimony in FLSA trials.  The Court ruled in favor of the Plaintiffs.

David Borgen and Joseph Jaramillo, along with co-counsel Catha Worthman and Todd Jackson of Lewis, Feinberg, Lee, Renaker & Jackson P.C., filed a brief in the Ninth Circuit in Wang v. Chinese Daily News on behalf of NELA supporting plaintiffs’ petition for rehearing, arguing that Title VII discrimination-specific class certification standards do not apply to wage and hour cases.

David Borgen and Joseph Jaramillo, along with co-counsel Herbert Eisenberg of Eisenberg & Schnell, LLP, filed a brief in the Second Circuit in Raniere v. Citigroup, Inc., et al., on behalf of the National Employment Lawyers Association and other amici addressing the enforceability under the National Labor Relations Act and Fair Labor Standards Act of a class/collective action waiver in an arbitration agreement imposed as a condition of employment on its employees.

David Borgen, Jason Tarricone, and Roberto Concepcion, Jr., filed two briefs in the Third Circuit in the consolidated cases of Fisher v. Rite Aid Corp. and Knepper v. Rite Aid Corp., addressing the validity of hybrid FLSA and state law class actions to enforce workplace laws. On 3/27/12, the Third Circuit agreed with the arguments made by DHKL and held there was nothing “inherently incompatible” about combining FLSA collective action claims with Rule 23 state law wage & hour claims. View Opinion

David Borgen, Jason Tarricone, and Roberto Concepcion, Jr., filed a brief in the Ninth Circuit in Harvey v. Kag West, LLC, addressing the vitality of issue certification under Rule 23(c)(4) and hybrid FLSA/state law class actions.

Morris Baller, Joseph Jaramillo, and Roberto Concepcion, Jr., along with co-counsel LatinoJustice PRLDEF, filed a brief in support of Plaintiffs/Appellees in the Fifth Circuit in Villas at Parkside Partners v. City of Farmers Branch, addressing how the City enacted an anti-immigrant housing ordinance with the intent of discriminating against Latinos, regardless of their immigration status. The brief supported plaintiffs who obtained a ruling that a local ordinance of Farmers Branch, Texas was unconstitutional because it invaded and interfered with the federal government’s power to control immigration and remove undocumented aliens. In the ordinance, the City imposed numerous restrictions and prohibitions on the ability of property owners to rent apartments to immigrants, and established procedures and requirements for renters to obtain and occupy apartment rentals that were designed to make it impossible for certain immigrants to reside in the City, and would have had a deterrent effect on Latino citizens and legal immigrants wishing to reside in the City. Our brief focused on the blatantly racist and anti-immigrant purpose and effect of what the City claimed was merely an exercise of its regulatory power over local housing.

DHKL, along with co-counsel, filed a brief in the Ninth Circuit in DeLodder v. Aerotek, Inc., a case involving Rule 23(b)(3) requirements.

On behalf of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), Linda Dardarian, Roberta Steele, and Lin Chan filed a brief in the United States Supreme Court in the case Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, addressing how class action discrimination lawsuits can achieve long-term changes to employment policies and practices.

On behalf of the National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA), David Borgen and Lin Chan, along with co-counsel David Lichtenstein, filed an amicus brief in the Tenth Circuit in the case Salazar v. Butterball, LLC, addressing donning and doffing protective gear by poultry processing workers. Go to NELA News website for more information.

DHKL writes NELA brief to Third Circuit on Hybrid Collective/Class Actions.

Case No. C04-03341 MHP (N. D. Cal.) (Amicus brief on use of social science evidence on stereotyping in gender discrimination class action lawsuit challenging subjective decision making having unlawful adverse impact.)