Michael Rubin

In Vergara v. California, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Rolf Michael Treu in June 2014 was tasked with an important question: whether several California statutes that determine teacher layoffs by tenure violate the state constitution by keeping employed many "grossly ineffective" teachers, whose continued employment allegedly denied equal protection for students assigned to those teachers.

Following an eight-week trial, Treu's final decision in August 2014 deemed those statutes unconstitutional.

Rubin entered after that, arguing the case in front of the 2nd District Court of Appeal on behalf of two teacher unions, the California Teachers Association and the California Federation of Teachers.

"We successfully argued to the Court of Appeal that the plaintiffs' equal protection analysis rested on a completely improper understanding of the equal protection clause," Rubin said.

In April this year, a three-judge panel at the 2nd District reversed Treu's decision, and in August, the state Supreme Court denied review.

In a Central District lawsuit brought in 2011, Rubin also alleged subpar conditions were present at two labor service subcontractors that employed workers that loaded and unloaded cargo. Those contractors were in turn hired by Schneider Logistics Inc., a trucking company, which had a deal with Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Within a month of filing the lawsuit in October 2011, Rubin and a team of lawyers were able to obtain a restraining order based on how time records were being kept.

The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Christina A. Snyder of Los Angeles required the defendants to keep accurate records and install time clocks.

Ultimately, after pursuing claims against the contractors and Schneider Logistics, Rubin went after Wal-Mart.

Snyder ruled the case had enough merit to be tried in front of a jury, which led to a $22.7 million settlement.

— Saul Sugarman