Emily co-chairs the firm’s labor and employment group and has a national practice focusing on complex employment and wage and hour litigation and advice. Emily is an accomplished trial lawyer who defends employers in complex employment litigation, including California and FLSA wage and hour class and collective actions, California representative PAGA actions, employment discrimination class actions, and complex whistleblower matters.

In addition to her litigation practice, Emily helps employers develop forward-thinking compliance practices that reduce wage and hour disputes and help mitigate other employment-related risks while keeping her client’s business goals firmly in mind. She regularly counsels clients on employment-related matters, including design and implementation of diversity and inclusion programs, ESG initiatives, harassment and discrimination investigations, “me too” issues, fair-pay compliance, negotiation of employment contracts, and the use and implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) and emerging technology in the workplace. Emily also has successfully guided employers through various stages of pandemic response, including navigating state and federal sick pay laws, furloughs and layoffs, WARN Act requirements and return to work issues.

Emily serves as co-chair of the firm’s diversity & inclusion committee, and is a member of the firm’s national associates committee. She also is a regular speaker on labor and employment, and class action issues and is a contributing author to the firm’s Employment & Labor Perspectives blog. Emily is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the United States District Courts for the Central, Southern, Eastern, and Northern Districts of California, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Ninth and Eleventh Circuits, the United States District Courts for the Northern and Middle Districts of Georgia, and the Superior, Appellate and Supreme Courts of California and Georgia.

Bar Admissions

Education
JD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with honors; Order of the Coif; Order of the Barristers, 1999

BA, St. John Fisher College, summa cum laude, 1996

• Defended numerous California and other state wage and hour putative class actions, including trying representative proof class and collective actions to jury verdict.
• Co-trial counsel in jury trial win for a major food-processing company in wage and hour Rule 23 class and FLSA collective action trial.
• Defended numerous putative collective actions under the FLSA, including on behalf of clients in the retail, food processing and pharmaceutical industries. 
• Represented management in employment contract and tort disputes, including actions involving the enforcement of non-compete and non-solicitation covenants, misappropriation of trade secrets and tortious interference with contractual and business relations.
• Defended numerous civil lawsuits, arbitrations, and Department of Labor investigations into alleged violations of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act whistleblower protections for companies in the financial services, global engineering and management services industries, including first reported federal court summary judgment decision and defense verdict on first Sarbanes-Oxley claim tried before FINRA arbitration panel.
• Represented Fortune 100 manufacturing company in complex whistleblower action under California law.
• Extensive experience as electronic discovery counsel, including for multiple Fortune 100 companies.
• Defended numerous single- and multi-plaintiff harassment, discrimination and retaliation cases under state and federal law across the country, with particular experience in California and Georgia.
• Regularly advise and counsel clients on various employment matters, including workforce reductions, workplace investigations and compliance and preventative strategies under the Americans with Disabilities Act, Title VII, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Family Medical Leave Act, the California Family Rights Act (CFRA), the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), and the wage and hour provisions of the California Labor Code.

• Selected as a Rising Star for Employment Litigation (2012-2014) and among Top Women Attorneys (2013-2014), Southern California Super Lawyers magazine. A description of the selection methodology can be found on Super Lawyers’ webpage.

• California Bill Proposes To Require Employer-Subsidized Backup Childcare Benefits

  By Emily Vicente |March 2021

• SB 973: Expanding Employer Obligations to Submit Annual Pay Data, Daily Journal
• COVID-19 Vaccination Planning: Legal Considerations for Employers, Occupational Health & Safety
• California Passes Retroactive COVID-19 Sick Leave Requirements for 2021, The Recorder
• #MeToo arbitration bill heads to President Biden’s desk for signature, Daily Journal
• California’s Whistleblower Law Applies Even When Employees Report Unlawful Conduct That the Recipient Already Knew, The Recorder
• Recent affirmative action ruling may impact private sector DEI initiatives, Daily Journal
• SCOTUS decides that a position transfer may violate Title VII if an employee is worse off due to discriminatory reasons, Daily Journal
• California Restaurants Must Provide COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave, QSR Magazine
• Past Salary and Pay Equity in the 9th Circuit, Daily Journal
• Amendment not likely to be a cure for employers' problems with PAGA, Los Angeles Daily Journal
• Enhancing Diversity & Inclusion in the Financial Sector: Practical Strategies for Recruiting and Retaining Diverse Talent,” Banking Exchange
• SB 331: The Silenced No More Act, Daily Journal
• Why San Francisco employers now must ‘flex’ schedules for caregivers, Human Resource Executive
• How the Supreme Court’s Expansion of LGBTQ+ Rights Under Title VII Will Impact Employers, The Recorder
• Tech's Legal Risks For Employers During Covid-19
• EEOC continues to fight wage inequality, Los Angeles Daily Journal
• SB 973: Expanding Employer Obligations to Submit Annual Pay Data, Daily Journal
• Is it a class action? Prove it!, Westlaw Journal Class Action
• Spring 2019 Diversity and Inclusion Newsletter
• The Class Action Hurricane: Where Is The Storm Heading?, Law360
• Summer 2019 Diversity and Inclusion Newsletter