Thomas A. Lenz

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.

• 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

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.

Multimedia

Community & Professional

• 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
• 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