Michael J. Loeb was a labor and employment lawyer for more than 30 years before joining JAMS in March 2006. He has been mediating cases since 1991. Mr. Loeb began his career as a staff attorney for the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board trying unfair labor practice cases. For three decades, he was a “full service” labor and employment lawyer first at Crosby Heafey Roach & May, Oakland (later merged with Reed Smith), and then with McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen, whose labor and employment law department he led before its merger with Bingham Dana forming Bingham McCutchen in 2002.

ADR Experience and Qualifications

• Mediated, litigated, and arbitrated virtually every conceivable type of labor, employment and employment benefits dispute in federal and state courts, including wage and hour class actions, wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment and retaliation cases, employment contract disputes, and misappropriation of trade secret cases
• Since 1991, mediated, arbitrated, or served as an early neutral evaluator in more than 1,500 cases, including the following representative matters

Representative Matters

• Americans with Disabilities Act (non-employment)
• Class action claims alleging failure to provide access to disabled students in educational facilities and activities
• Class action claims involving the alleged lack of access to health care facilities and equipment
• Discrimination Claims
• Age discrimination cases
• Disability discrimination cases involving alleged wrongful termination, failure to provide reasonable accommodations or engage in the interactive process, and the interplay between workers’ compensation, long-term disability, SSDI, and disability discrimination claims
• National origin discrimination cases and cases involving alleged discrimination based on English only policies
• Pregnancy and Family Medical Leave/California Family Rights Act discrimination and interference claims involving termination of employees on leave, the failure to grant leaves, and the failure to reinstate employees following the end of leaves
• Religious discrimination cases resulting from the failure to reasonably accommodate religious beliefs or practices
• ERISA and Benefit Plan Litigation
• ERISA cases involving alleged breaches of fiduciary duty in the management of trust fund assets
• ERISA section 510 cases involving alleged discrimination to avoid the vesting of or receipt of benefits
• ERISA welfare benefit denial cases, primarily involving the denial of long-term disability benefits
• Class action involving multiple mediation sessions, both virtual and in-person, including school board employees in Atlanta, Georgia and a supplemental retirement plan with a resulting settlement of $117.5 million
• Sexual Harassment
• Individual and multiple plaintiff sexual harassment cases
• Trade secret, non-compete, and non-solicitation
• Disputes
• Wage and Hour Class and Individual Actions
• Numerous wage and hour class action and individual cases, involving the alleged misclassification of employees as exempt or as independent contractors, the failure to provide meal and rest periods, PAGA claims, the failure to distribute tips and service charges, travel time, and off the clock work. Mr. Loeb has mediated class actions involving California, Massachusetts, Florida, Illinois, and Hawaii wage and hour laws and the FLSA. He has also arbitrated, to final award, a wage and hour class action involving more than 7,000 class members. 
• Wrongful Termination
• Executive termination cases involving disputes over whether good cause existed for termination, whether restricted stock and stock options vested, and the valuation of stock options
• Public sector wrongful termination and whistleblower cases
• Retaliation lawsuits alleging wrongful termination for engaging in protected activity or opposition to unlawful practices

Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities

• Recognized as a Northern California Super Lawyer, ADR Category, San Francisco Magazine, 2005-2009, 2011-2020
• Member, California Commission on Access to Justice, 2005-2009
• State Bar President’s Pro Bono Services Award, State Bar of California, 1991
• President, Alameda County Bar Association, 1993; Founder of its Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Program; and Chair, ADR Program Executive Committee
• Speaking engagements include: American Bar Association, Labor and Employment Law Section (mediating wage and hour class actions); National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA) (mediating and arbitrating class actions); Bridgeport Continuing Legal Education (mediating wage and hour class actions, mediating discrimination and wrongful termination cases); State Bar of California’s Labor & Employment Section and Practicing Law Institute (presentations on wage and hour developments, arbitrated wage and hour cases and class action litigation); numerous law firm and bar association presentations on mediating employment disputes and wage and hour class actions; presentation to California Employment Lawyer's Association (CELA) (mediating wage and hour class actions)
• Member and Chair, Civil Justice Reform Act Advisory Group of the United States District Court, Northern District of California, 1995-2002 (Appointed by United District Judge Thelton E. Henderson)
• Board member and Chair (15 years), East Bay Community Law Center (formerly the Berkeley Community Law Center), Boalt Hall’s largest clinical program and the largest provider of indigent legal services in Alameda County, with 18 staff lawyers serving more than 4,000 clients per year, 1991-present
• "Learning on the Job," ADR Profile, Daily Journal, June 29, 2012

Background and Education

• Bingham McCutchen LLP (formerly McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen), 1998-2006 (Partner)
• Crosby Heafey Roach & May, Oakland, CA, 1976-1997 (Partner, 1983-1997)
• Attorney, Agricultural Labor Relations Board, 1976 (Staff Attorney)
• J.D., University of California, Hastings College of the Law, 1974 (Order of the Coif)
• B.A., Cornell University, 1969