Keith Rossman is a strategic litigator who vigorously defends employers in employment litigation with a focus on wage and hour class actions and PAGA actions.

Keith has dedicated his legal practice to defending management clients in employment litigation in state and federal courts, in private arbitration, and before state and federal administrative agencies. His primary focus is defending wage and hour class actions and representative actions brought by employees under California's Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA) alleging violations of the California Labor Code and Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Orders. Keith also has extensive experience defending employers against claims brought by individual employees, including workplace discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, and other similar claims.

Keith represents clients of all shapes and sizes, from local, family-owned businesses to large multinational corporations, spanning industries such as hospitality, retail, healthcare, construction, manufacturing, warehousing, and logistics. In addition to litigation, Keith provides employers with strategic counsel on compliance matters. His work includes developing employment policies and practices and advising on day-to-day human resources and personnel management issues. He is skilled at crafting tailored solutions to address his clients’ specific workplace challenges. Regardless of the nature of the claims his clients face, Keith works to understand each client's business objectives to develop and implement strategies that minimize risk, limit financial exposure, and achieve the best possible outcomes.

Before joining FordHarrison, Keith practiced at a California-based labor and employment law firm where he exclusively represented management-side clients.

  • Second-chaired individual wage and hour arbitration seeking PAGA penalties;             
  • Regularly counsels employers on off-the-clock work, overtime, meal and rest periods, and compliance with other wage and hour requirements under the California Labor Code;
  • Obtained $1 million settlement on behalf of multi-national e-commerce company in an insurance dispute over damaged and destroyed products;
  • Secured full dismissal of numerous wage and hour class actions through successful motions to compel arbitration;
  • Mediated dozens of class, PAGA, and individual plaintiff actions and negotiated favorable resolutions;
  • Achieved dismissal in individual employment action after showing the plaintiff perjured themself at their deposition;
  • Defended cannabis industry client in high-stakes class action with overlapping PAGA claims and achieved resolution through private mediation before formal discovery; and
  • Guided client through successful response to Department of Labor investigation.
Education
  • Santa Clara University School of Law
    J.D., with Honors, 2016
  • University of California, Santa Barbara
    B.A., 2012
Bar Admissions
  • California
Court Admissions
  • California State Courts
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of 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 Southern District of California