Kenneth D. Sulzer

Sulzer has an axiom for attorneys in high-profile cases to keep in mind : "Anything filed in court ends up in the newspapers. Anything you put in newspapers, ends up in court."

After 34 years of defending large companies and institutions, managing crises in politically charged matters and working closely with public relations teams, Sulzer knows how to handle the press.

As co-lead, Sulzer recently represented the National Collegiate Athletic Association in a class action before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The action claimed student-athletes at Pac-12 universities should be considered employees and are owed back wages for sports-related activities under California's wage and hour laws. Dawson v. NCAA, et. al., 17-15973 (9th Cir., filed May 12, 2017).

The court dismissed the case on the grounds that student-athletes are not "employees" as a matter of law. Still on appeal, it is the type of case that could reach the U.S. Supreme Court, Sulzer said.

His comfort with highly politicized matters grew out of his experience working as a young intern in former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley's 1982 campaign for governor, he said.

"Back then, they called me 'junior assistant pencil sharpener,'" he said. "...I was around people in very tense situations as a young intern. I could tell who the cool heads were and who the mayor could listen to."

Over the past two years, Sulzer and his team have defended companies in the health care staffing industry against state and collective actions brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act on behalf of traveling nurses regarding how per diem reimbursements are accounted for.

With cases up and down the state, hundreds of millions of dollars, possibly billions, could be in the balance.

"It implicates tax issues, implicates the calculation of overtime pay and could have an impact on health care costs," Sulzer said.

-- Blaise Scemama