James Kan

Attorneys

Photo of James Kan.

James Kan joined Goldstein, Borgen, Dardarian & Ho as the Columbia University Law School Civil Rights Fellow in 2005 and became a partner in 2014.  His practice focuses on wage-and-hour and employment discrimination class actions and collective actions as well as executive and professional severance negotiations.  He is also a lecturer and panelist on the subjects of California and federal wage and hour and employment discrimination class and collective actions.  Mr. Kan was recently selected by SuperLawyers as a Rising Star for 2014.

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Education

  • B.A., 2000, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  • J.D., 2005, Columbia University School of Law

Bar and Court Admissions

  • California State Bar

  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

Awards

  • Columbia University Law School Civil Rights Fellow

Professional Associations and Memberships

  • Asian Law Caucus
  • Asian American Bar Association
  • East Bay Community Law Center Advisory Board

Prior Employment

  • Sixth Grade Teacher in Paterson, New Jersey; Teach For America Corps Member 2000-2002
  • Intern at United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda; Summer of 2006

Representative Cases

  • Dunwiddie v. Central Locating Services Ltd., Inc., No. 5:04-CV-315-OC-106 (M.D. Fla.), certified nation-wide collective action under FLSA and in related actions in New York and Washington regarding compensable time claims of utility locators; global settlement in excess of $8 million (2006)

  • Stahl v. Mastec, Inc., No. 8:05-CV-1265-T-27 TGW (M.D. Fla.), class and collective action settlement resolving compensable time claims of satellite dish installers nationwide for $13,137,365 (May 2008)

  • Signorelli v. UtiliQuest, LLC, No. 5:04-CV-315-OC-106 (M.D. Fla.), class and collective action settlement resolving compensable time claims (federal and state) of utility locators for $10 million (July 25, 2008)

  • Chinese Progressive Association v. Wong, et al., No. A115568 (First Appellate District of California Court of Appeal), successfully argued appeal of attorneys’ fees award on behalf of pro-bono client on the basis that the California Labor Code did not permit bilateral fee-shifting in favor of a prevailing defendant (April 16, 2008)

  • Roussell v. Brinker Int’l, Inc., No. 4:05-CV-03733 (S.D. Tex.) served as trial co-counsel that resulted in jury verdict in favor of plaintiffs in collective action involving FLSA minimum wage claims of servers arising from an illegal tip pooling arrangement.  Resolution of this case is still pending.

Representative Publications

  • The Impact of Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court on Wage and Hour Claims—A Plaintiffs’ Counsel’s Perspective, California Civil Litigation Reporter, October 2008 (Author).

  • Dipping into the Tip Pool: Restaurant Workers and the FLSA, NELA 18th Annual Convention, June 2007 (Co-author).