Twila S. White

White's namesake law firm has always geared toward helping the little guy or gal. The firm only represents plaintiffs employees.

"I just always thought that I could make a difference and impact if I represent people that really couldn't help themselves or who needed a voice," White said. "So, I decided to go ahead and focus my energy on representing employees as opposed to representing a Goliath corporation or an entity."

In 2018, the Second District Court of Appeal reversed an order confirming an arbitration award involving one of White's clients, a single mother, Patrice Honeycutt, who worked for JP Morgan Chase Bank as a lead teller.

Honeycutt claimed she had been subjected to racial discrimination, harassment and wrongful termination.

An arbitrator for JP Morgan Chase Bank issued an arbitration award against Honeycutt. But after White learned that the bank's counsel failed to comply with the mandatory disclosures for arbitrators in violation of the law, including the Code of Civil Procedure and the Ethics Standards for Neutral Arbitrators in Contractual Arbitration, the appeal's court reversed the award. Honeycutt v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. 25 (Cal. App. 2nd Dist. Aug. 2, 2018).

The court published an opinion on the case.

"When I sought to get the arbitration award vacated, I never had in my wildest dreams, thought, or even aspire to have a published opinion," White said. "My goal was to get my client some modicum of justice. But the Court of Appeals ended up publishing it. And what it did is it helped to try to restore fairness into the arbitration process."

White tried another case as a co-counsel that involved a man who had worked as a coordinator of baggage handling with Swissport.

After White's client had felt a sharp pain in his chest, he was rushed to the hospital for open-heart aortic valve surgery.

When the client attempted to report to work after getting clearance from a doctor, Swissport informed him he was no longer employed and should collect unemployment. Gonzalez. v. Swissport, BC685391 (Los Angeles County Super. Ct., filed Dec. 1, 2017).

White and her team managed to obtain a $1,050,000 verdict on his behalf.

"I don't try to cut any corners," White said. "I'm not a person that takes a case and says, "oh, I'll just take this case and hope that it settles." That's not how I approach a case. I am either in for a penny or in for a pound, meaning once I commit to taking that case -- I'm in it."

-- Henrik Nilsson