Cases
Experience: Gerawan Farming, Inc. v. ALRB, 40 Cal.App.5th 241 (September 24, 2019), petition for review pending . Constitutional challenge to ALRB's decision
order denying public attendance or observation of the on-the-record, interest arbitration hearings as prescribed under California Labor Code Section 1164 et seq., otherwise known as M
atory Mediation
Conciliation. Petition for review
decision can be found here .
Rucho v. Common Cause, 139 S. Ct. 2484 (2019): On behalf of the former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
current Maryl
Governor Lawrence J. Hogan Jr., filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in support of Common Cause's constitutional challenge to partisan gerrym
ering schemes in Maryl
North Carolina.
Gerawan Farming, Inc. v. Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB), 23 Cal.App.5th 1129 (2018). Mr. Schwarz was lead appellate counsel in a l
mark decision reversing the ALRB's nullification of a 2013 union decertification election at Gerawan. For additional information, see the Court of Appeal's opinion
media coverage in the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times,
The Fresno Bee .
Fowler Packing Company, Inc. v. Lanier, 844 F.3d 809 (2016) . The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held unanimously that two California agricultural employers successfully alleged that newly enacted wage
hour legislation (AB 1513) violated the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The decision was recognized as one of five Top Appellate Reversals of 2016 by the Daily Journal . For additional information, see the Ninth Circuit opinion
media coverage from the Los Angeles Times, Politico, Fresno Bee
Courthouse News .
Gerawan Farming, Inc. v. ALRB, 236 Cal.App.4th 1024 (2015), rev'd, 3 Cal.5th 1118 (2017), cert. denied, 139 S.Ct. 60 (2018). Lead counsel for the nation's largest grower of peaches in a l
mark case challenging the constitutionality of forced contracting procedures under the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act. For more, see the decision
related press coverage in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, the OC Register
California Lawyer .
Gerawan Farming, Inc. v. ALRB, 247 Cal.App.4th 284 (2016). Lead counsel in precedent-setting litigation which held unconstitutional the jurisdiction stripping provisions of the California Labor Code. For more, see the decision
related press coverage in the Los Angeles Times .
Obtained an order under the California Public Records Act (PRA) compelling the ALRB to produce ex parte communications concerning the board's failed attempt to obtain an injunction against Gerawan in Fresno Superior Court. The Superior Court held that the ALRB's claim of an attorney-client relationship with the ALRB's General Counsel would raise serious due process concerns in the administrative case pending before the board. For more, please see the Court of Appeal decision
press coverage in the Fresno Bee . Mr. Schwarz also successfully litigated a PRA matter in Superior Court against the California Labor
Workforce Development Agency to compel the state to produce records relating to its closed door negotiation of AB 1513, a 2015 wage
hour statute.
El Dabe v. Calavo Growers, Inc. Mr. Schwarz represented the largest U.S. publicly-traded grower of avocados in securities litigation relating to Calavo's January 2015 restatement of its audited financials. The district court twice dismissed the complaint-the first time with leave to amend
the second time with prejudice in February 2016. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit unanimously affirmed the lower court in late 2017.
PDL BioPharma, Inc. v. Genentech, Inc.
F. Hoffmann-La Roche. Mr. Schwarz was part of the Irell team which represented PDL BioPharma, a publicly-traded company, in Nevada state court contract litigation alleging the breach of a 2003 settlement that, among other things, barred Genentech from taking any action to challenge the validity of certain PDL patent rights. The case was stayed by agreement of the parties pending defendants' interlocutory appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court of a precedent-setting order compelling production of documents withheld under Swiss
U.S. law on grounds of privilege. The case settled during the appeal, with Genentech entering into amended license agreements with PDL. Certain details about the settlement can be found in PDL's public disclosures.
Sapien v. City of San Jose. Together with Richard A. Epstein, the Laurence A. Tisch Professor at New York University School of Law, Mr. Schwarz defended San Jose in an appellate proceeding concerning the city's 2012 l
mark pension reform referendum (Measure B).
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) v. Chance Gordon. Filed amicus briefs in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of the Cato Institute arguing that enforcement proceedings brought by the CFPB prior to the valid appointment of that agency's director violate the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association. On behalf of the Milton
Rose Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court addressing whether compulsory public employee union agency fees violate the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Fry v. City of Los Angeles. Amicus brief on behalf of the League of California Cities concerning a fundamental question under state constitutional law-whether the Los Angeles City Council irrevocably delegated to its Fire
Police Pension Board the power to adjust retiree healthcare subsidies paid by the city. Citing Irell's brief, the California Court of Appeal unanimously held in Los Angeles' favor.
California Charter Schools Association v. Los Angeles Unified School District. Represented former Los Angeles Mayor Richard J. Riordan before the California Supreme Court concerning the LAUSD's use of districtwide norming ratios in determining the number of classrooms to offer to charter schools.
