Curtis A. Graham

He represents management for all types and sizes of companies, from Fortune 500 companies to start-ups, on a broad spectrum of personnel matters, including class action defense, wage and hour issues, discrimination and harassment, discipline and termination, employee health and safety, company investigations and dispute resolution, the protection of trade secrets, and the preparation and application of effective personnel policies.

As an experienced mediator and trained negotiator, Curt resolves and mitigates employee disputes, both before they escalate into litigation and after.  As a trial lawyer, Curt has prevailed in all types of civil litigation, including jury trials, court trials, and administrative hearings.  Curt also has substantial experience – and success – defending companies against wage-and-hour class action lawsuits.

Prior to joining FordHarrison LLP, Curt gained substantial experience in defending many types of employment disputes at a law firm in Ventura County.  He also served as a mediator for the Los Angeles Superior Court, and worked in FINRA's arbitration office.  During law school, Curt served as a legal intern for the Honorable Consuelo B. Marshall, U.S. District Court Judge. 

Curt graduated summa cum laude from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, with a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology, while traveling extensively to educate teenagers in Russia, Singapore and the Philippines as part of an international missionary organization. He earned his law degree from Pepperdine University where he served as a senior member of the Law Review, was selected as a research fellow for the Strauss Institute, concurrently earned a Master's Degree in Dispute Resolution, and graduated cum laude.

Recent Experience

• Successfully defended appeal in Faulkinbury v. Boyd & Assoc., Inc., 185 Cal. App. 4th 1363 (2010), in which the Court affirmed the denial of class certification in a California wage-and-hour case involving "on duty" meal periods taken by security guards.
• Obtained dramatic results in multiple California wage-and-hour class actions, including exempt misclassification cases and cases with overtime, meal and rest period, and reimbursement claims, by defeating class certification or by substantially narrowing class size and class allegations.
• Successfully protected companies at trial and arbitration, and procured defense verdicts from juries regarding claims of race discrimination and workplace retaliation.
• Exceeded clients' expectations in recent whistleblower, harassment, and wrongful termination cases by expediting the favorable resolution of the employees' claims before significant defense fees were incurred.

Recent Publications

• "Frequently Asked Questions About the Brinker Decision," FordHarrison Legal Alert, May 2, 2012
• "Employment Class Action Issues that Stole the Spotlight in 2011," The Los Angeles Daily Journal, December 15, 2011
• "There's More at Stake in Brinker: How the Decision Can Impact Class Action Litigation," The Los Angeles Daily Journal, November 15, 2011
• "A New Document Required for California ‘New Hires,'" FordHarrison Legal Alert, October 14, 2011
• "Back to Brinker: California's Meal Period Riddle Will Soon Be Answered," FordHarrison Legal Alert, October 6, 2011
• "Computer Usage Policy Trumps California Employee's Attorney-Client Privilege," FordHarrison Legal Alert, January 19, 2011
• "Reach of Employee's ‘Waiting-Time Penalties' Cut Off at Three Years," FordHarrison Legal Alert, November 22, 2010
• "Not Brinker, But a California Appellate Court Solves the Riddle – Employers Need Only ‘Provide' Meal Periods Not ‘Ensure' They Are Taken," FordHarrison Legal Alert, November 4, 2010
• "Effective Workplace-Complaint Investigations Begin With a Road Map," The Los Angeles Daily Journal, June 15, 2007

Honors and Awards

• Honored as a Southern California "Rising Star" within the Law & Politics "Super Lawyers" publication by Los Angeles Magazine in 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012.
• Awarded as one of the top "40 Under 40" business persons in 2007 by the Pacific Coast Business Times.