1. law, govt and politics

THE STATE BAR OF CALIFORNIA
84th Annual Meeting
Program 127
How to Fire Employees (Without Getting Burned)
Saturday, September 17, 2011
2:15 p.m.-3:45 p.m.
Sponsored by the Solo and Small Firm Section
The State Bar of California and the Office of Section Education and Meeting Services
are approved State Bar of California MCLE providers.
Points of view or opinions expressed in these pages are those of the speaker(s) and/or author(s). They have not
been adopted or endorsed by the State Bar of California’s Board of Governors and do not constitute the official
position or policy of the State Bar of California. Nothing contained herein is intended to address any specific legal
inquiry, nor is it a substitute for independent legal research to original sources or obtaining separate legal advice
regarding specific legal situations.
©2011 State Bar of California
All Rights Reserved
Overview
Price Kent, Lisa Miller
The Marcin Lambirth Law Firm
AV-rated Marcin Lambirth, LLP is a unique trialattorney firm, serving the legal needs of individuals
and businesses.
We are trial lawyers with a strong record in bringing
and defending lawsuits and claims in state and federal
court before juries, judges and arbitrators. We
primarily practice in California, Nevada, and New
York.
The Firm's blend of energy and enthusiasm for the
practice of law is the reason that Marcin Lambirth has
developed a stellar reputation as a Firm that can
come in and successfully try a case at the 11th hour.
The firm represents individuals in employment matters
(wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment,
retaliation and contract disputes), major accident
(including truck accident cases), catastrophic injury
cases, as well as families and loved-ones in wrongful
death cases. We have obtained a number of multimillion dollar verdicts and settlements.
The firm provides business and corporate clients with
superior legal representation in complex litigation,
banking, commercial and contractual disputes,
employment lawsuits, financial institution cases,
insurance claims, real estate issues, and trademark
and copyright infringement matters. We provide highquality legal skills coupled with common sense.
Communication with our clients and a well thought-out
strategy are our strengths and trademark.
Marcin Lambirth, LLP offers individual attention to
each client and each case along with a trial lawyer's
experience, and combines them with attentive and
efficient service to obtain effective results.
++++++++++
To learn more about Ms. Kent, Ms. Miller, or the
Marcin Lambirth Law Firm, please call (818) 305-2800
or visit www.Marcin.com. We welcome your inquiries.
jbm@marcin.com
Ask your attorney how many trials he or she
has had? What were the results? We believe
our
Managing partner, A.V. Rated John B. Marcin
is a highly accomplished trial lawyer. He was
aptly labeled the "Dragon Slayer" by the Los
Angeles Daily Journal for his litigation skills
and exploits. (See article "Dragon Slayer" in the
"Articles" section of this web site). A veteran of more than fifty
complex business litigations, and of over seventy-five bench and jury
trials (including over twenty-three three week or longer jury trials), he
has successfully represented plaintiffs and defendants in both state
and federal court. In addition, he has extensive experience litigating
general corporate, real estate, partnership disputes, employment
cases, and trademark and copyright cases.
In the area of complex commercial and financial litigation, Mr.
Marcin has advised, represented, and served as lead trial counsel for
companies and financial institutions in numerous matters involving
covenant defaults and threatened or actual bankruptcy, insolvency, or
receiver scenarios. He has also advised, represented, and served as
lead trial counsel for individuals and firms and highly contentious
employment matters where breaches of contracts, discrimination, and
harassment were claimed.
Among other notable victories, Mr. Marcin successfully represented a
plaintiff in an employment action resulting in a plaintiff's jury verdict
after a three-week trial which resulted in a $3.5 million verdict. In
another notable victory, Mr. Marcin successfully defended an
individual sued by Goldrich and Kest, and Jerome Snyder (all land
developers and builders in Southern California) who sought over $5
million in damages (excluding punitive damages) against a former
partner whom they claimed breached duties to them. After a threeweek jury trial, the jury found squarely against the plaintiffs on all
causes of action and all theories.
Before co-founding Marcin Lambirth, LLP Mr. Marcin had worked
with the law firm of Murphy Weir & Butler in San Francisco (which
merged with Winston & Strawn in 2003).
Mr. Marcin is admitted to practice in California, Nevada, and
Washington D.C. He also is admitted to the Central, Southern,
Eastern, and Northern District Courts of California, the District of
Nevada, as well as the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United
States Supreme Court. Mr. Marcin is a member of the American Bar
Association, the Federal Bar Association, and the American Inns of
Court (the Business Litigation Inn of Court).
Practice Areas: Business Litigation;
Copyright; Trademark Litigation;
Real Property Litigation; Wrongful
Termination; Employment Litigation;
Wrongful Death; Truck Accidents;
Personal Injury
Admitted: 1990, California, U.S.
Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit and
U.S. District Court, Central,
Southern, Eastern and Northern
Districts of California; 1993, District
of Columbia; 1998, U.S. Supreme
Court; 1999, Nevada; 2000, U.S.
District Court, District of Nevada
Law School: Pepperdine University
School of Law, J.D., 1990
College: University of
Massachusetts, B.A.
Member: Los Angeles County
(Member, Litigation Section),
Washington, D.C. and American
(Member, Sections on: Litigation;
Intellectual Property, Real Property,
Employment, Tort and Insurance
Practice) Bar Associations; State Bar
of California (Member, Sections on:
Litigation and Employment); State
Bar of Nevada; California
Employment Lawyers' Association;
Nevada Trial Lawyer's Association;
American Inns of Court Business
Litigation
pkk@marcin.com
Ms. Kent earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Oboe Performance in 1994 from
the University of California, Irvine and continued on to earn a Master of Fine Arts
degree as one of the esteemed UC Irvine Chancellor’s Fellowship recipients in
1996. Ms. Kent has performed as a professional oboist for over 15 years in both the
Hollywood Film and Television recording industry as well as in live performance
on stages all over Southern California.
In 2006, Ms. Kent graduated from Whittier College School of Law where she also earned an
Intellectual Property Law Certificate, as one of Whittier Law School’s Intellectual Property
Fellow and having received the highest honors in both Professional Responsibility and
Trademark Law. Ms. Kent served as a Federal Judicial Extern to the Honorable Stephen G.
Larson, Central District, Riverside, California in the summer of 2004 and worked as a law clerk
to Judge Nho Trong Nguyen, West Justice Center, Westminster, California in 2005.
Price Kent’s practice focuses in the areas of Entertainment Law, Intellectual Property, including
Copyright, Trademark, and Right of Publicity in both transactions and litigation. In her first year
of private practice, Ms. Kent negotiated Music Licenses with EMI Music Publishing, Cherry
Lane, and Warner Chappell Music Publishing for a proprietary video game technology, assisted
clients in acquiring the necessary registrations to protect their intellectual property assets in both
Copyright and Trademark, as well as represented clients in contract negotiations throughout the
Entertainment Industry.
Ms. Kent is licensed to practice before all courts in the State of California and the United States
District Court in the Central District of California. Ms. Kent is a member of the California State
Bar, Orange County Bar Association, UCI Alumni Association and is the President-Elect of the
Whittier Law School Alumni Association.