Robert A. Lewis

A veteran trial lawyer, Lewis made a big splash in labor and employment law this year when he persuaded the state Supreme Court to reverse an appellate decision that payroll services companies can be liable for work done for a defendant company.

The high court ruled in February the 2nd District Court of Appeal erred when it said the third-party beneficiary doctrine allows an aggrieved employee to bring a breach of contract action against the payroll company that performed work for his or her employer.

Lewis handled the Jan. 5 oral argument in defense of ADP LLC in a lawsuit by Sharmalee Goonewardene, a former employee of the travel management company Altour International Inc., who added ADP LLC to her 2012 wrongful termination lawsuit. Goonewardene v. ADP LLC, 2019 DJDAR 1148 (Cal. Feb. 7, 2019).

"Had it stood, it would have really disrupted the payroll industry in California. It would have screwed up third-party beneficiary law and some of the tort law," Lewis said.

Lewis is accustomed to high-stakes arguments because he generally handles his own appeals -- he's done more than 15 -- but this case still stood out for its significance.

"When you're preparing for an argument like that, you want to make sure you're fully prepared and ready for anything," Lewis said. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP appellate specialist Thomas M. Peterson and associate Zachary S. Hill helped him prepare.

A graduate of Harvard Law School, Lewis frequently handles employment cases.

"I think I've done more labor and employment matters in the last five years than I had in the previous 15," he said.

Lewis said he appreciates the gravity of the issues.

"They have potentially huge downsides for employers, so you have to take them very seriously," he said. "A lot of them go to trial, and I'm a trial lawyer, so they need lawyers who can actually go to trial if need be."

-- Meghann M. Cuniff