News
Berliner Cohen Partner Quoted in “End of ‘08 Brought Bonus for Some”
January 15, 2009
Roberta Hayashi, Berliner Cohen partner and head of the Employment Law group, is quoted in The Recorder’s January 15, 2009 article, “End of ‘08 Brought Bonus for Some,” regarding the noticeable increase in law firm employment work.
The article stated that many Bay Area large and small law firms say that employment work surged in the fourth quarter of 2008 and that they expect it to do the same this year. “…Hayashi, leader of Berliner Cohen’s employment group, said that companies’ dismal third-quarter results set her phone off on the first Monday in October. Three different employers called her on the same day. By the end of the week, she was working with four companies on worker reductions…”
What followed was a “very quick upsurge in advice and counsel work on layoffs,” she said. Hayashi is now in discussions with partners at the 54-lawyer firm about hiring help. In the last few months, she has had to pull two associates from the real estate group and one from the corporate group to help the four-lawyer team handle an upswing in counseling and litigation. “We’re starting to see filings of lawsuits from people who were let go in the middle part of last year and have not found other employment or comparable employment,” she said…
Berliner Cohen is one of the largest and oldest law firms in San Jose serving the business and regulatory needs of private business and public agencies. For 40 years, the Firm has developed the special expertise required by a diverse client base consisting of nationally recognized business interests and a number of Silicon Valley’s largest national and multinational corporations, new ventures, leading real estate developers and brokerages, cutting-edge technology companies, healthcare and other service providers, banking and financial institutions, municipalities, public agencies and individuals. Berliner Cohen also meets the growing demands of the San Joaquin Valley with its expanding office in Merced.