Samuel J. Stone
Associate
Overview
Samuel J. Stone is a trial attorney in Holland & Knight's Los Angeles office. Mr. Stone focuses his practice on high-stakes complex litigation and investigations, offering creative strategy to achieve goals in and out of litigation.
Mr. Stone is a trusted advisor and crisis manager to some of the most successful companies in the world, including those in the financial services and banking, healthcare, advanced technology, defense and government, manufacturing and construction, transportation, and retail and hospitality industries. He has represented employers and management of large and small companies at all stages of litigation and appeal, whether it is securing favorable pre-complaint resolutions, first-chairing trials, administrative hearings and appeals or successfully defending favorable results on appeal to state and federal appellate courts.
Mr. Stone is frequently called upon to handle high-profile, high-stakes, time-sensitive matters ranging from "bet the company"-type wage and hour class and representative actions; government investigations and civil litigation involving claims of willful or systemic harassment, discrimination and retaliation; severe employee misconduct and fatalities; and whistleblower and retaliation claims. He helps clients proactively manage compliance through bespoke advice and counsel focusing on and recognizing clients' practical realities.
Mr. Stone's practice also includes advising on labor and employment matters for merger and acquisition (M&A) deals, representing management before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), in collective bargaining negotiating and in labor-management arbitration.
Representative Experience
- Successfully negotiated favorable settlements of sexual harassment, sexual assault and sexual battery cases implicating billionaire clients in an alleged scheme of promising tens of millions of dollars in bequeaths in exchange for employees' participation in lewd and unlawful acts
- Secured dismissal of representative action alleging systematic forced waiver of rights by requiring employees to execute purportedly unlawful non-competition agreements
- Represented one of the 10 largest companies in the world and a leader in electric vehicle (EV) transportation technology in extensive systemic race discrimination, harassment and retaliation claims brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), California Civil Rights Department (CRD) and private plaintiffs
- Defended numerous wrongful termination, harassment, retaliation and discrimination claims brought against a multinational security contractor, including settling a multimillion-dollar exposure case for a fraction of the value
- Served as counsel in a decade-long multistate wage and hour class and collective action against a major financial services company for off-the-clock overtime pay brought by mortgage loan officers; defeated Rule 23 class certification of 1200+ employees, successfully decertified Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) collective action, obtained summary judgment in employer's favor on issue of first impression regarding the regular rate of pay for calculating overtime wages
- Served as counsel for major supplier to petrochemical producers; secured a class action settlement on terms favorable to employer for 1100+ employees in a case involving alleged off-the-clock work, security checks and donning/doffing claims
- Served as counsel for an international luxury brand and family in multiple class, Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) and representative actions; successfully secured settlement of various actions for client, including PAGA and class actions, for minimal compared to calculated liability
- Successfully defended and secured settlement for major international food producers and beverage manufacturers on claims involving alleged off-the-clock work due to COVID-19 checks and donning/doffing
- Represented a receiver in resolving and managing claims process and distribution for initial coin offering (ICO) fraud scheme, including working closely with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) attorneys
- Represented companies in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) investigations into high-profile employee workplace deaths, including securing rapid releases of client worksites with no adverse findings, penalties or fines
- Managed a multinational client's response to California Department of Justice site inspections of immigration detention facility and subpoenas, including preparing staff for government interviews and facilitating on-the-ground response to government officials
- Represented employees as pool counsel for internal investigations into banking fraud allegations and advised in follow-on federal grand jury matters
- Advised a market leader in a highly regulated industry on compliance in connection with criminal indictments and investigations involving market leader's top clients
- Secured dismissal of an employee representative action alleging unlawful use of restrictive covenants despite California's staunch prohibitions on restrictive covenants
- Represented a major medical devices supplier in misappropriation of trade secrets and breach of fiduciary duty case alleging theft of company "crown jewels," including successfully obtaining a Temporary Restraining Order in federal district court
- Advised on complex multijurisdictional issues in furtherance of successfully obtaining a nationwide injunction barring dissemination of a major insurer's confidential information and trade secrets
- Obtained successive temporary restraining orders barring a client's competitor from punitively enforcing an unlawful noncompetition agreement and compelling arbitration against the client's employee
- Advised on labor and employment and restrictive covenant diligence matters for a merger between two national banks; the merger resulted in adding approximately $1.3 billion in assets, $1.2 billion in loans and $1 billion in deposits to the surviving entity
- Advised on all aspects of labor and employment issues and diligence for pending matters between the largest public health district in California and the University of California system
- Provided in-depth substantive diligence review and advice on an acquisition deal worth more than $50 million between multinational private security companies, including liaising with and securing government consent required for transaction
- Secured an injunction preventing an unlawful work stoppage at two of the largest construction sites in New York City and dismissal of unlawful secondary activity claim in connection with the same
- Assisted with high-profile negotiations involving a union threat to picket and handbill presidential debates
- Advised on furloughs and mass layoffs of an international airline's unionized workforce, as well as Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act) and Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA) compliance for complete closure of colleges
Credentials
- Southwestern Law School, J.D., cum laude
- Tulane University, M.A.
- Tulane University, B.A.
- California
- All Superior Courts in California
- U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- American Bar Association, Labor and Employment Law Section
- American Bar Association, Criminal Justice Section
- Los Angeles County Bar Association, Labor and Employment Law Section
- San Diego County Bar Association, Labor and Employment Law Section
- Southwestern Law Review
- Holland & Knight Pro Bono All-Star, 2018, 2020
