Cheryl D. Orr

Orr, a 28-year veteran of labor and employment law, is managing partner and chair of the firm's national L&E group. She represents a stable of long-standing clients in retail, health care and for-profit education in single and multi-plaintiff suits. She has defended 17 class, collective and representative actions in the past year.

"I've somewhat flown under the radar, because our team has had success in resolving cases sooner rather than later," she said.

For instance, for client Buy Buy Baby Inc., a subsidiary of Bed Bath & Beyond Inc., Orr served as lead counsel in a statewide potential class and representative action under the Private Attorney General Act. Filed by former employee Heather Sauer, the complaint alleged six wage and hour causes of action and sought to certify a class consisting of all current and former non-exempt retail store employees across all of the company's California locations.

Before beginning informal discover, Orr and her team reached out to Sauer's counsel. "We were able to produce for her our client's compliant policies and information specific to the plaintiff," Orr said. "We showed that even if the plaintiff's allegations were true — which we contested — they could not be adjudicated as common to all claims." As a result, Sauer's counsel stipulated to dismissal of all potential class claims. The case is currently is settlement discussions on Sauer's individual claims. Sauer v. Buy Buy Baby Inc., MCC-14-00858 (Riverside Super. Ct., filed June 9, 2014)

Orr said that Riverside County Superior Court Judge Daniel A. Ottolia took a hard look. "This is a very careful and diligent judge, careful to protect the interests of potential class members," she said. "He required briefing on the settlement as to why it should not proceed as a class action."

"Probably 20 to 25 percent of potential class actions that cross our desk we can resolve sooner rather than later," Orr said. "I'm blessed with a strong team. We are all interested in our work, and they are as invested in our clients and outcomes as I am."

The key is hard work, she added. "If you marshal your facts quickly and spend time with the client to their business and policies, we have often been successful in opening up a dialog with plaintiffs' counsel to explain why the case isn't well postured for class treatment. Then we can persuade them to walk away or to resolve matters on an individual basis."

— John Roemer