Employees First Labor Law

Who the firm acts for

The firm works for people in disputes with their employers, and it operates across California. It goes by Employees First Labor Law, or EFLL for short. Its clients are employees, and every matter it lists puts the firm on the worker's side.

Two connected fields make up the work: employment law and workers' compensation. One looks at how a person is treated, paid, or let go. The other looks at workplace injuries and the benefits that should follow. Keeping both under one roof lets the firm take a worker's problem from more than one angle.

The employment claims the firm handles

The employment side covers a broad list. It includes wrongful termination, workplace discrimination, wage and hour violations, and sexual harassment. The firm also names pregnancy discrimination, disability discrimination, retaliation claims, and reasonable accommodations. Each of these has a defined meaning under California and federal law.

Wage and hour matters

Wage and hour work rewards a closer look, because the label covers several problems at once. These cases turn on unpaid overtime, missed meal or rest breaks, and workers wrongly classified as exempt or as contractors. Much of the proof is in time records and pay stubs. The remedy can include back pay, penalties, and interest, which the law sets out by category. A claim often begins with a written demand or an agency filing before it reaches a courtroom.

Discrimination, harassment, and retaliation

Claims about how a worker is treated follow their own procedure. California law protects employees on grounds that include race, sex, age, disability, pregnancy, and medical condition, among others. A worker usually files with a state or federal agency first, then receives a notice of the right to sue. As a reviewer, I read the firm's naming of pregnancy, disability, and other discrimination claims as a sign it handles those early filing steps as well as any hearing.

Workers' compensation and job-protected leave

Workers' compensation is the firm's second main area. The site says it takes on denied and undervalued claims, which are the two points where injured workers most often need help. A denied claim means the insurer has refused benefits. An undervalued claim means the offer falls short of what the injury has cost.

These claims move through California's workers' compensation system, which has its own judges and its own appeals. Medical reports and the treating doctor's findings carry much of the weight. Benefits can cover temporary disability, permanent disability ratings, and medical treatment. The system runs on a track separate from a civil lawsuit, with different deadlines and forms.

The firm also lists leave and benefit rights. FMLA and CFRA leave give eligible employees time off for health and family reasons, with a right to return to work. ERISA governs employee benefit plans, including some disability and pension disputes. Mediation and arbitration appear on the list too, and both are common ways to settle employment matters outside a courtroom.

How the team is built

The site names five attorneys: Jonathan P. LaCour, Lisa Noveck, Amanda Thompson, Jameson Evans, and Ben Twisk. Each carries the title Attorney at Law. The team page lists their names and roles.

Paralegal and administrative staff support the attorneys, according to the firm. In my opinion, a group of five lawyers is large enough to run several matters at once while holding to the employee-only focus the firm describes. Naming the team also gives a prospective client a sense of who might handle a file.

Where the firm works

Irvine is the firm's primary office. It lists satellite offices in Pasadena and Pomona, plus further locations in Long Beach, Riverside, Bakersfield, and Fresno. The office locations reach across Orange County and into the Central Valley.

By county, the firm says it serves Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, and Riverside. These are among the most populated counties in the state, which places a large pool of workers inside the service area. The offices line up with those counties, so a client in much of Southern California has a nearby place to meet.

What the firm reports about its record

Two figures appear on the firm's own pages. It says it has represented California workers since 2011. It also reports more than $100,000,000 resolved since 2012. These are the firm's own statements, and a reader should weigh them as such.

Figures like these describe outcomes across many cases. Each case turns on its own facts, and results vary with them. A stated recovery total and a start year still give a worker something concrete to consider when choosing counsel.

The firm points to public profiles on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn for anyone who wants to look further. Its pages set out the practice areas, the counties served, and the attorneys by name. The site dates the firm's work to 2011 and its stated recoveries to more than $100,000,000 since 2012.

How the fee arrangement works

EFLL says it handles cases on a contingency fee basis. Under that arrangement, the firm's legal fee depends on a recovery in the matter. This gives prospective clients a useful starting point when they consider the cost of representation. The record does not state the percentage charged, so the precise terms would come from the firm's fee agreement.

A contingency arrangement affects how the lawyer and client approach a claim from the outset. The potential recovery matters because it provides the source for the legal fee. For an employee facing lost wages or an interruption in benefits, that structure can make the initial cost easier to assess. The firm's statement applies to its cases generally, with the written agreement controlling the details for each client.

I would expect a prospective client to review the fee percentage and the treatment of case expenses before signing an agreement. Those terms determine how a recovery is divided. The supplied record confirms the contingency model, but it provides no separate terms for employment matters or workers' compensation claims.

The Irvine address and direct contact

The firm's published street address is 18100 Von Karman Ave in Irvine, California. This gives prospective clients a specific destination for the primary office identified on the site. A street address is especially useful when documents must be delivered or an in-person appointment has been arranged.

The supplied telephone number is (310) 853-3461. That number offers a direct contact point for someone who wants to ask about representation. The record does not identify a separate number for the Irvine office or assign the listed number to a particular attorney.

These contact details also help distinguish the primary office from the firm's other listed locations. A prospective client can refer to the Von Karman Avenue address when confirming where a meeting will take place. Since the record lists several offices, confirming the appointment location would be a practical part of the intake process. The address and telephone number provide the basic information needed for that confirmation.