About Thomas & Associates

Thomas & Associates is dedicated to California Employment Law. California employment law gets more complex everyday. We work to protect your business from employee claims and lawsuits.

California employment laws are constantly changing, and the associated risks and liabilities for employers keep escalating. There are many pitfalls - even the slightest oversight can be costly.

In a fast-paced and competitive business environment, employers are pulled in many directions. Having an employment law attorney who understands your business can save you a tremendous amount of time, money, and frustration.

Top-Quality Employment Law Solutions Delivered with Integrity

As California's legal landscape continues to change, small-to-medium sized employers throughout Orange County and Los Angeles depend on Thomas & Associates. Since 1991, we have helped countless businesses identify, prevent, and resolve a wide range of employment issues. With offices in Newport Beach and Beverly Hills, we proudly offer a broad range of strategic employment law solutions along with first-rate litigation representation.

The distinguished reputation of Thomas & Associates is based on a powerful combination of legal expertise, business acumen, and an honest, client-centered approach. Our firm was founded by employment law attorney Russell Thomas, a Harvard Law School Graduate with decades of experience in all areas of employment law matters and litigation. Russ is passionate about helping clients mitigate costly legal risks while pursuing their most ambitious business goals. This dedication is the driving force of our services, and the key to our successful track record.

With a finger on the pulse of California employment law, Thomas & Associates can help you diminish costly legal risks as you reach your business goals.

Through a broad range of specialized employment law services, Thomas & Associates delivers high quality legal services at cost effective rates to small and medium sized businesses throughout Orange County and Los Angeles.

About Russell Thomas

Russell Thomas, the principal attorney at Thomas & Associates, specializes in employment law matters including employment and labor litigation. He also represents business clients in commercial disputes, business litigation, and international trade matters.

Russ received his undergraduate degree from Harvard and his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1967. He worked with the National Labor Relations Board in Washington and subsequently joined General Motors Legal Department as a member of the Labor & Employment Law Section at its corporate headquarters in Detroit. In the years that followed, he served as partner in two major national law firms. Russ opened his own practice in Orange County in 1991.

Russ has developed training materials and conducted numerous seminars on such subjects as maintaining a union-free work place; complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act; and dealing with CAL/OSHA and Proposition 65. Currently Russ is a part-time instructor at Cal-State Long Beach, where he lectures on employment law in the workplace.

Russ understands the competitive nature of today's global business landscape. He believes that a lawyer should be an asset to any business and not "get in the way." To sum up his approach to working with business clients, he states: "I don't tell you it can't be done -- I show you how to do it."

Areas of Practice:

  • Labor and Employment Law
  • Business Law

Bar Admissions:

  • Massachusetts
  • District of Columbia
  • Michigan
  • California
  • United States Supreme Court
  • U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 9th Circuits
  • U.S. District Courts in Michigan, California, Massachusetts and Wisconsin

Education

1967 Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA
J.D.

1964 Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA
A.B., Cum Laude

Classes/Seminars Taught:

  • American Bar Association
  • National Conference on Occupational Safety & Health Law, 1975
  • National Safety Counsel Plenary Session
  • Chicago, Illinois, 1977
  • Merchants & Manufacturers Association of Los Angeles
  • Compliance With Cal-OSHA, 1990-1992
  • Merchants & Manufacturers Association of Los Angeles
  • Compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act, 1990-1992
  • Cal State Long Beach
  • Program on Employment Law In The Workplace, 1990 to Present

Professional Associations and Memberships:

  • American Bar Association, Section on Labor Law, Committee on Occupational Safety and Health Law, 1977 - 1990
  • Committee on Development of the Law Under the National Labor Relations Act, 1970 - 1979
  • U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Council on Occupational Safety and Health Policy, 1978 - 1984

Confidential Contact Form

Please fill out the following form and we will contact you. All inquiries are held in strict confidence.