Justin Curley

Mr. Justin T. Curley is a partner in the San Francisco office of Seyfarth Shaw LLP, and a member of the firm’s Labor & Employment Department. His practice is focused on employment litigation, with a particular emphasis on defending employers in wage and hour class, representative, and collective action litigation under the California Labor Code, including the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). He also handles single and multi-plaintiff claims for discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, including whistleblower claims, as well as employment-related tort and contract claims.

Mr. Curley has significant jury trial and arbitration experience, including second-chairing a four-week jury trial in San Mateo County (complete defense verdict), a six-week jury trial in Alameda County (nearly complete defense verdict), a two-week FINRA arbitration (complete defense award) and a one-week JAMS employment arbitration (complete defense award). Earlier in his career, Mr. Curley was part of a trial team that obtained the plaintiff’s agreement to dismiss all claims for a waiver of costs after a two-week jury trial in Contra Costa County.

In addition to his litigation practice, Mr. Curley provides day-to-day counseling and advice to employers concerning the various state and federal laws affecting the employment relationship. He advises clients regarding wage and hour issues, employment policies and practices, termination decisions, internal complaints and workplace investigations, and negotiating employment and severance agreements.

Mr. Curley has handled litigation for and provided counseling to clients in a variety of industries, including retail, tech, staffing, banking, insurance, construction, airline, automotive, restaurants and hospitality, health care, and defense. He also frequently provides pro bono advice and counseling concerning employment matters to several local non-profits, and volunteers with pro bono programs Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), Legal Services for Children, and Project Homeless Connect. Mr. Curley was a member of the firm’s 2015 Pro Bono Team of the Year.

Prior to joining Seyfarth, Mr. Curley served for two years as a law clerk to the Honorable James P. Donohue of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle. Before law school, he earned his CPA license as a financial auditor at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

Mr. Curley is active in his community, and currently serves as Treasurer on the board of nonprofit Community Resources for Science, which provides tools, resources and volunteers to help elementary school teachers in under-resourced schools in the Bay Area teach science. He has previously served on the boards of nonprofits The Bread Project (including as Board Vice President) and Green Tree Early Childhood Center.

Education:

• J.D., Duke University School of Law (2004)
• B.S., University of California, Berkeley (1998)