For more than 80 years, Leonard Carder, LLP has been proud to serve as counsel to the labor movement, representing and advising local and international labor unions in both the private and public sectors. Our dedication to the labor movement shows in the creativity and drive that we bring to helping unions tackle their biggest problems.
We provide full-service, vigorous legal representation. Our attorneys represent unions in all types of forums and proceedings, large and small, including in federal and state courts, labor arbitrations, the National Labor Relations Board, the California Public Employment Relations Board, and other federal and state administrative agencies. Our attorneys also provide strategic advice and counsel on issues such as organizing, collective bargaining, contract enforcement, internal governance, and political, electoral, and legislative matters. Among other things, we have been at the forefront in defending public employees’ right to strike and have worked with clients to develop innovative strategies in the areas of card-check neutrality agreements, local and state legislation, and strategic litigation.
Although we are based in the San Francisco Bay Area, we represent unions from all over the West Coast and in multiple industries, including longshore, maritime, hospitality, transportation, construction, utility, technical, professional, and public sectors.
Some of the more recent cases Leonard Carder attorneys have successfully litigated include City of San Jose v. Operating Engineers Local Union No. 3, 49 Cal.4th 597 (2010) (requiring employers to exhaust PERB’s initial jurisdiction in seeking injunctive relief against public sector strikes); Sacramento County Superior Court, PERB Order No. IR-59-C (2015) (clarifying burden on employers seeking to enjoin public employee strikes); Cook Inlet Tug & Barge, 362 NLRB No. 115 (2015) (finding tug boat captains are not supervisors and are eligible to vote in union representation proceeding); Am. President Lines, Ltd. v. ILWU, Alaska Longshore Div., Unit 60, 611 F. App’x 908 (9th Cir. 2015) (finding longshore work under control of stevedore employer was fairly claimable by union even though it was not previously performed by that employer at that specific port); IFPTE, Local 21 v. City of Oakland, et al., Case No. RG15775714 (Alameda County Superior Ct., June 2015) (temporary restraining order against the City of Oakland for closing city council gallery seating, in violation of Oakland Sunshine Ordinance and Brown Act).
Among other professional activities, attorneys at Leonard Carder serve on the board of directors for the AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee (LCC), and are active members of the LCC, California Employment Lawyers Association, National Employment Lawyers Association, and National Lawyers Guild. Our attorneys regularly present at conferences such as the California Lawyers Association Labor & Employment Section Public Sector Conference, the American Bar Association Labor & Employment Section Conference, and others. Publications that Leonard Carder attorneys have helped edit or author include California Public Sector Labor Relations (Lexis Nexis), California Public Sector Employment Law (Lexis Nexis), Pocket Guide to Due Process in Public Employment (CPER), and Employee and Union Member Guide to Labor Law (Thomson Reuters).
Related Cases
- Int’l Longshore & Warehouse Union v. Nat’l Labor Relations Bd., 978 F.3d 625 (9th Cir. 2020)
- International Longshore and Warehouse Union v. ICTSI Oregon, Inc.
- International Longshore & Warehouse Union v. Port of Portland
- Hardy-Mahoney v. Everport Terminal Services, Inc. and ILWU
- Cook Inlet Tug & Barge, Inc. v. Inlandboatmen’s Union of the Pacific
- Surf City Steel, Inc. v. International Longshore and Warehouse Union
- American President Lines, Ltd v. ILWU
- Hooks v. International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 8
- Terminalift LLC v. International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 29
- Ahearn v. ILWU Locals 21 and 4