Ms. Galit Avitan Knotz’s practice covers a wide range of labor and employment matters, with a focus on class and representative actions and other complex employment disputes.Ms. Knotz represents employers in employment and related matters in state and federal court. Her clients include employers in a number of industries, including the retail, food service, financial services, communications, and entertainment industries.
Her cases have involved wage and hour issues, including overtime compensation, off-the-clock work, exemption and contractor misclassification, and time shaving. Ms. Knotz also represents clients in connection with discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination and retaliation disputes.Ms. Knotz provides advice and counseling to employers in all areas of labor and employment law, including employment policies and practices, family and medical leave issues, sexual harassment and other employee investigations, disability accommodation, wage and hour compliance, reductions-in-force and employee privacy rights. She also assists several pro bono clients on a regular basis in issues of compliance.
Ms. Knotz serves on the Leadership Council of Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice and is a member of the Association of Workplace Investigators. She served as a note editor for the Cornell International Law Journal, as a staff editor for the Legal Information Institute and as president of the Women’s Law Association. Ms. Knotz has also served as an extern to the Honorable R. Gary Klausner of the United States District Court, Central District of California.Ms. Knotz is currently a member of the Los Angeles office’s diversity committee.
Representative Work:
- Ms. Knotz’s representative matters include the following:
- Negotiated a favorable settlement for a student claiming ADA violations against second-largest school district in the country
- Assisted client in obtaining judgment against four plaintiffs in misclassification/exemption arbitration
- Represented a major coffee retailer in defeating class certification of multi-million dollar off-the-clock work, meal and rest break, and final pay claims
- Assisted various clients in updating its employment policies for national and California compliance, including policies relating to leaves of absence, meal and rest breaks, arbitration, and social media
- Assisted a well-known home improvement retailer in summary judgment and defeating class certification of multi-million dollar off-the-clock work and rest break claims
- Represented a major cable client in defending twelve related single plaintiff actions by technicians alleging joint employment and various wage and hour violations under the FLSA and California law
- Conducted a significant investigation into claims of sexual harassment by multiple individuals at a prominent entertainment company
Languages:
- Hebrew
Education:
- J.D., Cornell Law School, cum laude, 2007
- B.A., University of California, Berkeley, with honors, 2001
Bar Admissions:
- California
Cost
Rate : $$$