Overview
Thomas Lenz handles all aspects of labor and employment law issues and heads the firm’s traditional labor and National Labor Relations Board practices. He works with employers in all major industries across California and the West. Mr. Lenz served as Chair of the Labor and Employment Section for the California Lawyers Association (formerly the State Bar of California) during the 2017-2018 term. He serves as a Lecturer in Law, teaching at the USC Gould School of Law.
Mr. Lenz began his law practice with the National Labor Relations Board, Region 21, in Los Angeles, where he investigated and tried unfair labor practice cases, ran workplace elections, and acted as an administrative hearing officer. Mr. Lenz was assigned difficult cases, including numerous charges involving SEIU’s Justice for Janitors campaign activity throughout Los Angeles. The majority of his cases required work in the Spanish language. He received a formal commendation for his performance from the Agency’s General Counsel.
Since joining the firm in 1992, Mr. Lenz has handled a vast array of complex labor and employment matters, often working on the cutting edge of developing legal issues in a variety of industries. Much of Mr. Lenz’s efforts involve advising, training, and developing strategies to prevent workplace issues from developing into crises for employers. His practice involves day-to-day hiring and discipline issues; preparing policies and contracts; supervisory training on a wide variety of issues; union avoidance strategies for non-union clients; collective bargaining strategies and grievance handling for unionized clients; review of duties and strategies for corporate transactions involving unionized companies; actions to compel arbitration; defending against arbitration demands; and dealing with workplace disruption caused by labor disputes, picketing, and strikes. Mr. Lenz brings the real world perspective of a former NLRB agent, someone who grew up working in a family business, and someone who has worked in both union and non-union environments to help achieve each client’s goals. He also actively litigates labor and employment matters in arbitration, before agencies, and in the courts.
Honors & Recognitions
Mr. Lenz has been honored as one of the Top One Hundred Labor Attorneys in the United States by Labor Relations Institute, Inc., a leading industry information source.
Representative Matters
- Defense of employee discharges and discipline
- Union misconduct
- Collective bargaining obligations
- Bargaining under construction industry rules
- Voter eligibility formula for workplace elections
- Court appeals of NLRB rulings
- Pursuit of attorney fees against the NLRB
- Picketing, bannering, and strike activity
- Union jurisdictional disputes
- Prevailing wage obligations
- Protection of employer speech rights on workplace issues
Practice Areas
Practice Areas
News & Publications
Firm News
Events & Speaking Engagements
Mr. Lenz regularly presents seminars and training throughout California and other states. He is a frequently consulted source for reporters on labor and employment topics. Mr. Lenz helps the State Bar’s Labor and Employment Law Section coordinate the “Your Legal Rights” program on KALW-FM (San Francisco), a weekly radio show which is broadcast state-wide on public radio and on kalw.org. Mr. Lenz has made several appearances on the show, including a summary of labor law basics in the episode "Labor Law 101," aired January 9, 2019, and a legal review in the episode "Your Legal Rights: A look back at the past year," aired February 27, 2019.
Other articles, podcasts, and news segments in which Mr. Lenz has appeared or has been quoted as a source or expert include the following:
- Quoted in "California agency issues additional guidance on worker vaccine policies" Northern California Record, March 22, 2021
- Quoted in "3 Takeaways From Biden's Words On The Amazon Union Push" Law360, March 1, 2021
- Interviewed "UTLA asking teachers to vote on returning to classrooms" Fox 11, February 26, 2021
- Quoted in "U.S. Appeals Court finds for plaintiff in case involving Covid-related expense reimbursement" Northern California Record, February 22, 2021
- Quoted in "Robb Firing Could Spell Trouble For Biden's NLRB GC Pick" Law360, February 18, 2021
- Quoted in "Labor Has Reasons For Hope As Amazon Union Vote Kicks Off" Law360, February 5, 2021
- Interviewed "Vacuna podría ser obligatoria para seguir trabajando" KRCA Noticias 62, December 8, 2020
- Quoted in "High Court Review Puts Unions' Calif. Farm Access At Risk" Law360, November 18, 2020
- Quoted in "A coronavirus vaccine could come soon. Could MLB mandate players and fans take it?" Los Angeles Times, November 11, 2020
- Quoted in "Californians pass Proposition 22" Annenberg Radio News , November 5, 2020
- Quoted in "Calif. Voters Back Uber, Lyft's Worker Classification" Law360, November 4, 2020
- Quoted in "ADA may apply to workers with longer-term COVID-19 afflictions" Northern California Record, November 2, 2020
- Quoted in "Whose Commission Is It? Savills Broker Battle Heats Up As Legal Filings Fly" Bisnow, October 7, 2020
- Quoted in "Host of mandates will apply in formulating workplace COVID-19 vaccine policies" Northern California Record, October 5, 2020
- Quoted in "N.B.A. ‘Boycott’ or Strike: What’s the Difference?" New York Times, August 27, 2020
- Quoted in "NBA players boycott? Why ‘boycott’ is not the correct term" Los Angeles Times, August 26, 2020
- Discussed arbitrations and mediations on Paula Poundstone's podcast "Nobody Listens to Paula Poundstone," Episode 52, July 8, 2019
- Discussed how labor law impacts the gig economy on "Mottek on Money," KNX Newsradio 1070, April 20, 2019
- Quoted in"Interns In The Trump Era: What Employers Need To Know," Law360, April 26, 2019
- Quoted in "4 Tips For Avoiding And Surviving Strikes," Law 360, April 5, 2019
- Quoted in "L.A.’s Exotic Dancers Are Launching a Labor Movement," Los Angeles Magazine, March 4, 2019
- Quoted in "Colin Kaepernick won. Period," The Undefeated, February 15, 2019
- Quoted in "What does Eric Reid signing mean for his collusion case and Kaepernick?" The Undefeated, February 12, 2019
- Quoted in "SCOTUS rules against forced arbitration in port trucker case," The Press Enterprise, January 15, 2019
- Discussed the LAUSD Teacher's Strike on ABC 7 Los Angeles, January 14, 2019 and January 24, 2019
Alerts & Articles
Publications
Mr. Lenz’s articles on labor and employment law topics have been featured in California Lawyer magazine, Construction Executive, the National Club Association’s Club Director magazine, and the Association of Workplace Investigators Journal, as well as other publications. He is a contributing editor of a leading labor law treatise, The Developing Labor Law. In 2017, Mr. Lenz was profiled by the OC Bar online and was featured in an article in Washington Lawyer Magazine.
Blog Posts
Multimedia
Mr. Lenz is a frequently contacted as a resource for the media. He provides quotes and writes articles on a variety of workplace for numerous publications. He wrote the Messages From The Chair column for the California and Employment Law Review during his term as Chair for California’s Labor and Employment Law Section. He has made frequent appearances on the “Your Legal Rights” radio show (KALW-FM San Francisco and www.kalw.org). He has appeared on local and national broadcast media.
Community Involvement
Community & Professional
- Associated Builders and Contractors, Bylaws & Policies Committee, Member
- Associated Builders and Contractors, National Legislative Committee, Member
- International Institute of Los Angeles
- Marquette University Alumni Club of Southern California, Past President and current Board Member
- National Club Association, Board Member and Legal Committee Chair
- Orange County Labor and Employment Relations Association, Past President and current Board Member
- San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership, Board Member
- California Lawyers Association (formerly State Bar of California) Labor and Employment Section, Chair
- California Lawyers Association, Civic Engagement & Education Committee, Member
Education
J.D., Louisiana State University Law School
B.A., Marquette University
Admissions
- 1988, Illinois
1991, California
2010, Alaska
2010, Arizona
2011, Oregon
2011, Washington
2011, District of Columbia
U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
U.S. District Court, District of Alaska
U.S. District Court, District of Arizona
U.S. District Courts, Central, Eastern, Northern, and Southern Districts of California
U.S. District Court, District of Colorado
U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington
U.S. Supreme Court