SAN FRANCISCO – January 9, 2019 – San Francisco employment attorney Charles O. Thompson has moved to global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP as a shareholder, further strengthening the firm’s Global Labor and Employment Practice. Thompson, a seasoned employment trial lawyer, was formerly managing partner of Polsinelli’s San Francisco office and chair of its Class Action Practice. He has extensive experience litigating employment-related issues for public and private companies, having handled over 1,000 employment matters for clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to Silicon Valley startups.
“Chuck’s broad experience and reputation as one of the nation’s leading labor and employment attorneys further enhance and complement our strong and growing presence in the western states’ labor and employment community,” said Chuck Birenbaum, who serves as Greenberg Traurig’s chair of Northern California. “We are experiencing strong client demand in class actions and high exposure cases, leading us to reach out to experts like Chuck Thompson. We are thrilled to welcome him to our San Francisco office.”
Thompson focuses his practice on employment litigation and counseling clients through all phases of Class Actions and Single Plaintiff cases. He has tried employment, commercial, and professional liability cases to verdict and directed verdict, and has litigated and appealed cases from California State Courts to the United States Supreme Court. He represents employers in all facets of wage/hour cases, as well as class actions brought by the EEOC in state and federal courts across the United States and has broad experience appearing before the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, the Employment Development Department, and the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Labor. His areas of concentration include matters involving the Americans with Disabilities Act, sexual harassment and assault, discrimination and wrongful termination, wage and hour, and catastrophic cases.
“We are very focused on building our west coast labor and employment practice to meet increasing client demand; and hiring Charles, a highly-regarded and credentialed attorney, reflects our ability to identify and recruit talented practitioners as we position ourselves to address the needs of clients in a changing global market,” noted Naomi G. Beer, co-chair of Greenberg Traurig’s Global Labor and Employment Practice.
In addition to his trial and counseling work, Thompson has served as a judicial mediator and arbitrator, and has acted as a pro-tem judge upon request of the court. He is recognized as a thought leader in his field, regularly invited to lecture on civil litigation subjects, including all facets of employment litigation, trial strategy, effective discovery techniques, and ethics.
Throughout his career, Thompson has been a champion for diversity. He is an executive committee member of the Justice and Diversity Committee of the San Francisco Bar and led the Western Region diversity committee at his former firm. He actively supports and promotes diversity efforts and collaborates with clients on diversity issues. Thompson earned his J.D. from Golden Gate University School of Law and his B.S. from University of San Francisco.
“I am excited to be joining Greenberg Traurig, with its strong reputation in the area of employment law as well as its incredible platform both geographically and across practice areas,” Thompson said. “I look forward to collaborating with my colleagues in California and across the firm.”
About Greenberg Traurig’s Labor & Employment Practice: Greenberg Traurig’s Global Labor & Employment Practice serves clients from offices throughout the United States, Latin America, Europe, and Asia. Members of the practice have had numerous trial wins and are frequently called upon to handle complex, bet-the-company, and large high-stake cases, including class and collective actions. On the labor side, a leading group of lawyers regularly represents management with labor-relations matters. Labor & Employment team members assist clients with complex employment issues, and design practical, proactive strategies that can be readily implemented by today’s human resources professionals. In addition, the practice is recognized by The Legal 500 United States in the areas of Labor and Employment Litigation, Labor-Management Relations, ERISA Litigation, Workplace & Employment Counseling, and Trade Secrets Litigation. Visit Greenberg Traurig’s Labor & Employment Blog for insights and analysis of the latest labor and employment developments, including legislation, regulations, cases, policies, and trends.
About Greenberg Traurig: Greenberg Traurig, LLP (GT) has more than 2,000 attorneys in 38 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. GT has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, was named the largest firm in the U.S. by Law360 in 2017, and is among the Top 20 on the 2018 Am Law Global 100. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com Twitter: @GT_Law.