Stacey E. James

Stacey E. James' practice focuses on assisting clients with state and federal wage and hour compliance, as well as defending employers in wage and hour class, representative, mass and single actions, and enforcement of arbitration agreements. She has successfully and efficiently defended hundreds of lawsuits alleging wage and hour violations, including multiplaintiff, representative (PAGA) and class action lawsuits. In addition, Stacey counsels employers on wage and hour compliance, audits payroll practices and evaluates classification determinations. She has also defended clients against claims of wrongful termination, retaliation, discrimination and harassment.

As co-chair of Littler’s national Wage and Hour Practice Group, she oversees the training and development of more than 450 counsel across the nation, as well as ensuring the practice group provides education and assistance to clients through external webinars and trainings.  She also works closely with the leadership of Littler’s national Class Action Avoidance and Defense Practice Group to develop strategic initiatives to respond to the ever-growing expansion of class, collective, mass and representative complex actions in the wage and hour space. She is also a member of the firm’s Strategic Review Committee, which provides guidance to class and collective action case teams throughout the firm.

Stacey’s practice is primarily focused on defending clients in all areas of California wage and hour litigation, as well as assisting clients with wage and hour compliance, including the specific areas of regular rate, overtime, meal and rest periods, and alternative workweek schedules under California law. Her recent successes include convincing the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California to deny class certification of a putative class action alleging wage and hour violations against a large healthcare facility, and defeating class certification in state court and the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California for that same entity. Stacey recently led an appellate team in a victory before the California Court of Appeals for the Sixth Appellate District, which upheld a trial court’s summary judgment ruling and costs award in favor of her client after seven years of hard-fought litigation in a whistleblower retaliation case.

Additionally, Stacey concentrates on incentive compensation. She works closely with clients to develop and structure incentive compensation plans. Currently, she serves as chair of Littler’s Shareholder Compensation Committee. She also has served on the firm’s Board of Directors and is a core member of its Hospitality and Health Care industry groups.

Prior to attending law school, Stacey worked in human resources and payroll. She was previously certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources.