Seyfarth Shaw Expands California Labor and Employment Practice Group with Addition of Jeffrey A. Wortman as Partner in Los Angeles Office

Los Angeles, CA (July 23, 2007)—Seyfarth Shaw LLP, one of America’s leading full service law firms, announced that Jeffrey A. Wortman has joined the firm’s Los Angeles office as a partner in its California Labor and Employment Practice Group. Wortman was previously a partner at Steefel, Levitt & Weiss.

Wortman comes to Seyfarth Shaw with extensive litigation experience in a full range of labor and employment issues, especially with regard to wage and hour issues, discrimination, retaliation, sexual harassment, whistle-blowing and similar matters. He has particular depth of experience serving the financial services and utilities industries in such matters. He also frequently counsels clients regarding personnel policies and procedures, reductions in force, employment agreements, EEOC compliance and drug and alcohol testing. Wortman has represented clients’ employment interests in state and federal court, administrative proceedings, NASD proceedings and in proceedings under the National Labor Relations Act and the Railway Labor Act. 

“Jeff joins a team of highly experienced lawyers throughout California delivering extraordinary service and insight to our clients, guiding them through the many peculiarities of California’s employment laws,” said Kenwood C. Youmans, managing partner of the firm’s Los Angeles office.  “Jeff’s extensive employment law experience coupled with his understanding of the financial services industry complements our team’s breadth of experience in virtually every industry and employment sector in the state.”

Seyfarth Shaw has one of the largest labor and employment departments in California, with more than 100 labor and employment lawyers practicing in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento.  The firm was the first national law firm to open California offices over 30 years ago and today the firm’s California attorneys constitute approximately one-third of its labor and employment lawyers nationwide. Seyfarth Shaw has a deep labor and employment bench at all levels of experience dealing with the peculiarities of federal and California employment laws, including: California workplace counseling and compliance solutions, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, wage and hour matters, leave law compliance, workforce restructuring, workplace investigations, employee privacy rights and California employment litigation. The firm adheres to a team-based system that enables its attorneys to draw upon expertise throughout the firm’s national platform to deliver value and efficiency to clients.

Wortman is a graduate of Northwestern University where he earned his B.S. He also earned an M. A. from Baylor University before receiving his J. D. (with honors) from the University of Texas. He is a member of the State Bar of California (Labor and Employment Law Section) and is admitted in the United States District Courts for the Central and Southern Districts of California, as well as the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Wortman is also a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association (Labor and Employment Law Section).

“With a third of the firm’s labor and employment lawyers located in California, I knew joining this crew of talented lawyers was an opportunity not to be missed,” Wortman said. “Seyfarth Shaw’s depth in this field of law is exceptional and I’m excited to be able to draw on the wisdom and experience of my colleagues throughout the country to meet the needs of our clients.”

Seyfarth Shaw has over 700 attorneys located in nine offices throughout the United States including Chicago, New York, Boston, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento as well as Brussels, Belgium. Seyfarth Shaw provides a broad range of legal services in the areas of business transactions, labor and employment, employee benefits and litigation. The firm’s practice reflects virtually every industry and segment of the country’s business community. Clients include over 200 of the Fortune 500 companies, financial institutions, newspapers and other media, hotels, health care organizations, airlines and railroads. The firm also represents a number of federal, state, and local governmental and educational entities. For more information, please visit http://www.seyfarth.com.