Malcolm A. Heinicke

It's been an eventful few months for Heinicke. First, he was elected co-managing partner of Munger, Tolles & Olson in March. A few months later, he won a dismissal in the final piece of a class action against Garda CL West Inc., an armored truck service.

The ruling, which came down in May, has the potential to establish an industry-wide precedent on meal-and-rest periods for armored car drivers in California. In re: Garda Wage and Hour Cases, JCCP 4828 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Jun. 1, 2015).

The dismissal comes off a similar decision Heinicke won in November In re: Garda.

Superior Court Judge William F. Highberger agreed that off-the-clock breaks in such a high-risk profession as armored transport isn't comparable to drivers and messengers in similar but less-dangerous industries.

The decision gave the company justification in its current on-the-clock practices and preempts Augustus v. ABM Security Services, in which the California Supreme Court ruled employees must be off-duty while on meal and rest periods.

"Imagine armored car drivers got to this class action in the wake of the Supreme Court's Augustus decision," said Heinicke. "This creates a lot of logistical and safety problems."

During that argument, Heinicke highlighted the job's dangers and the potential security risks of off-duty breaks.

"A bank teller, a diamond merchant, there's a robbery risk there, but those people are in a secure facility," Heinicke said. "They can close the facility, they can be relieved by another employee.

"The armored car industry is a unique operation that goes into the field and transports valuables. There's only a few companies that do it, and it's really the only way that valuables and cash move around outside of security facilities. It doesn't really fit within these general guidelines, so we decided, 'Let's be proactive.'"

In his verdict, Highberger also dismissed allegations of unpaid overtime and rest breaks, paving the way for the class action's dismissal and its far-reaching effects on the trucking and security industries.

"It really can be a victory for the entire industry and validate the use of on duty-meal periods and validate use of the overtime exemptions in this industry," Heinicke said.

Heinicke is also settling into his new management role, which gives him the chance to use some of the lessons he learned during his 20-plus-year career at Munger Tolles.

"Many of the management and personnel lessons that I've learned over the years as an employment lawyer, I've been able to translate to these leadership positions," he said. "Serving as co-managing partner of the firm? It's like, in many ways, being the ultimate employment lawyer."

-- Glenn Jeffers