Ndubisi A. Ezeolu

Ndubisi A. Ezeolu is passionate about what he does in the courtroom and the community.

Though he stumbled into the practice area by happenstance, Ezeolu works on employment law matters representing employers in worker dispute cases. He is often successful in preventing his opposing counsel from obtaining class certification.

Select Physical Therapy, a rehabilitative services provider, relied on Ezeolu for counsel in a lawsuit where plaintiffs accused the company of wage and hour violations.

“It originally started off as a single plaintiff lawsuit that eventually turned into a three plaintiff lawsuit that they wanted to morph into a class action,” Ezeolu said. “We were able to stop them in their attempts to morph it into a class action, which I believe ultimately led to a favorable settlement right on the eve of trial.”

In addition to halting his opposing counsel’s class claims, Ezeolu also successfully opposed a motion for leave to amend the complaint to add Private Attorneys General Act or PAGA claims. Silva v. Select Physical Therapy.

Class action laws can bring challenges for many lawyers, but Ezeolu has developed an effective strategy for litigating them.

“The key for us in these class actions is defeating certification and proving that individual issues related to that employee — that specific employee — predominate the issues involved and that it’s not some sort of class wide policy or practice,” Ezeolu said. “It really entails and involves me knowing as much as possible about our clients’ operations with respect to personnel management as possible.”

Ezeolu will often make recommendations for his clients to correct some policies or practices when he believes they go against the spirit of the law.

“I do think a lot of the laws are put in place for the right reasons, whether it’s to protect employee ease or even to protect both sides of the aisle to make sure that they’re dealing with each other fairly,” Ezeolu said. “From our clients perspective in terms of risk management and just the cost of litigation, it’s more beneficial for them in the long run to just follow the laws that are in place.”

Ezeolu, known for a positive attitude and determination, brings his talents outside the courtroom. He recently joined the human resources committee of Five Acres, a nonprofit organization that works with Southern California youth and their families on issues including foster care, adoption and mental health.

“It’s something that I’ve always thought was important,” he said. “It’s just another way to giveback to a community, especially kids in the community.”

— Nicole Tyau