Brent M. Douglas

Snell & Wilmer • San Diego


Brent Douglas is an accomplished attorney with a 15-year tenure in labor and employment law. His career began with a focus on construction delay and change-order cases. However, a last-minute call to support a wrongful termination trial revealed his passion for the human aspect of law, leading him to specialize in what he describes as a more passionate practice area.


Douglas' expertise was pivotal in a high-stakes case involving his largest client, Bright Event Rentals. The company was accused by its main competitor, Town & Country Event Rentals, of trade secret theft after hiring two of their top salespeople. Town & Country Event Rentals v. Julio Villasenor, Robert Kuehn, and Bright Event Rentals, 21STCV29034 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Aug. 6, 2021).


"A longtime client was recently sued by its largest competitor for the alleged theft of trade secrets. Despite expressly telling two new salespeople not to bring any documents or customer lists from their prior employer, they did," Douglas said. "Facing preliminary injunctions, restraining orders, and multiple forensic experts, I was able to settle this case for zero dollars by establishing the employees' use of company information on personal laptops was commonplace during the pandemic and the former employer could not point to the export of any non-public information or resulting damages."


In another notable case, Douglas led the defense in a class action involving over a thousand plaintiffs alleging unpaid wages and missed meal and rest breaks across multiple sites. By narrowing the focus to time-rounding issues, he managed to settle for a fraction of the potential loss. Moreover, he secured a global settlement that protected the client from similar litigation for years to come.


"I always get along great with opposing counsel," Douglas said of his work. "Sometimes our largest obstacle is getting our clients to relax while we hash out a commonsense solution that avoids costly litigation."


When asked about the recent PAGA reforms, he said California business owners deserve them.


"Although I have some clients willing to take aggressive approaches like enforcing arbitration agreements, bifurcating trials to assess standing, and taking early depositions, many San Diego small businesses simply settle PAGA cases regardless of the merits," Douglas explained. 


In his spare time, Douglas serves on the Board of Directors for the New Children's Museum and the Century Club of San Diego. He is also a past president of the San Diego County Bar Association.