James Kan

Attorneys

Photo of James Kan.

James Kan is a shareholder of Goldstein, Borgen, Dardarian & Ho.  James joined GBDH as the Columbia University Law School Civil Rights Fellow in 2005 and became a partner in 2014.  His practice focuses on employment discrimination, wage and hour, and consumer/privacy 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 EEO law, as well as class and collective actions.  James participates in several professional organizations, including serving as the current Co-Chair for Employees/Plaintiffs of the American Bar Association’s Equal Opportunity Law Committee and a board member of the Asian Law Caucus.  James also has been recognized as a Super Lawyer in Northern California by SuperLawyers from 2015 to the present.

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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

  • US Courts of Appeal – Fifth, Eighth, Ninth

  • US District Courts – California Central and Northern District Courts, Nebraska District Court, Oregon District Court, Texas Northern District Court

Awards

  • Columbia University Law School Civil Rights Fellow

  • Super Lawyer and Rising Star by SuperLawyers (since 2014)

Professional Associations and Memberships

  • ABA Equal Employment Opportunity Law Committee – Current Co-Chair on behalf of Employees/Plaintiffs
  • Asian Law Caucus Board Member – Current
  • East Bay Community Law Center Advisory Board (past member)

Representative Cases

  • Discrimination class actions:

      • McClain, et al. v. Lufkin Industries, Inc., (E.D. Tex.) obtained bench verdict after trial in race discrimination employment class action resulting in approximately $5.5 million class backpay and interest; basic liability finding affirmed on appeal to Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
      • Rasmussen et al. v. The Walt Disney Company, et al., (Los Angeles Cnty. Super. Ct.) with co-counsel, certified a class of approximately 9,000 women alleging pay discrimination based on sex.  Case is ongoing.

  • Consumer class actions:

      • Flowers v. Twilio, Inc., (Alameda Cnty. Super. Ct.) obtained a $10 million settlement for certified class for recorded phone calls and text messages in violation of the California Invasion of Privacy Act.
      • Siciliano v. Apple, Inc., (Santa Clara Cnty. Super. Ct.) obtained class settlement for certified class of $16 million challenging Apple’s failure to ensure that products sold in its online store comply with the disclosure and consent provisions of California’s Automatic Renewal Law.

  • Wage and Hour collective/class/representative actions:

      • Roussell v. Brinker Int’l, Inc., (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.
      • Abrishamcar v. Oracle America, Inc., (San Mateo Cnty. Super. Ct.) served as co-trial counsel in state representative action raising wage and hour violations against Oracle on behalf of California sales representatives that resulted successful liability rulings.

Representative Speaking Engagements

  • Making Your Case: The Art of Class Action Trial Plans, panelist, February 24, 2023.  The Impact Fund 2023 Class Action Conference.

  • Strategic Considerations for Remote Proceedings in Labor and Employment Cases, November 11, 2022 for panel with same title.  ABA 16th Annual 2022 Section of Labor and Employment Law Conference.

  • Selected Highlights of EEO Class Action Cases in 2021 and Early 2022, April 1, 2022 for panel: EEO Class Actions and Systemic Discrimination Claims in a New Era.  ABA 2022 National Conference on EEO Law.