Team

Desmond joined the firm in 1993 and is licensed to practice law in California and Hawaii. He litigates matters in federal and state courts across the country and before administrative and arbitral tribunals involving traditional labor law, employee benefits, leaves of absences, employment discrimination, wrongful termination, wage and hour issues, and prevailing wage law.

Desmond likes to watch sports in his free time, and is a lifelong fan of the Washington Commanders. He also rescues pugs and other dogs that need homes that their owners will not or cannot provide them.

Published / notable decisions: Weiler v. U.S., 96-1 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) P50,241 (9th Cir. 1996); In Re Marriage of Shelstead, 66 Cal. App. 4th 893 (1998); In Re Knight, 207 F.3d 1115 (9th Cir. 2000); Hensel Phelps v. San Diego Unified Port District, 197 Cal. App. 4th 1020 (2011); Rabinak v. United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners Pension Fund, 832 F.3d 750 (7th Cir. 2016); CMM-CM v. Nev. State Labor Comm'r, 489 P.3d 920 (2021)

Statutes: Business & Professions Code § 7522(o); Labor Code §§ 218.7 & 218.8; Labor Code § 2699.6; ERISA § 408(h).

JD - University of Minnesota

BA - University of California, Berkeley

Alice joined the firm in 2004. After litigating employment and labor law matters during her first seven years with the firm, Alice’s role has since shifted to real estate and other transactional work.

Her real estate experience includes counseling and representing clients on the acquisition, disposition, leasing, and financing of commercial real estate assets. Alice also provides legal advice on investment transactions and drafts, reviews, and negotiates agreements relating to closed-end private equity, infrastructure, fixed income funds, open-end fund investments, REITs, agreements with investment managers and ERISA plan consultants, and contracts across various asset classes.

California and Nevada State Bars

Loyola Law School, Los Angeles – JD; Three-Year, Full-Tuition Scholarship

University of California, Berkeley – BA

DescrAndrea Matsuoka is a dedicated labor attorney with a wide range of experience in traditional labor law, wage and hour law, prevailing wage law, employment discrimination, constitutional law, union governance and legislation.  She has represented clients in state and federal courts, administrative proceedings, mediations, and negotiations and enjoys working collaboratively with clients to identify and solve problems, achieve goals, and build power.

Before joining the firm, Ms. Matsuoka was a shareholder at another labor union law firm. 

Prior to her labor law practice, Ms. Matsuoka was a UCLA School of Law and David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest Law & Policy faculty member.  Ms. Matsuoka taught first-year public interest law students how to be effective legal researchers, writers, and advocates and co-taught Pretrial Civil Litigation.  Previously, Ms. Matsuoka was a generalist attorney with Legal Services of Northern California (LSNC) working with low-income clients and communities to solve housing, income, employment, health, and education problems. At LSNC, Ms. Matsuoka co-authored an amicus curiae brief in Texas DHCA v. Inclusive Communities Project, Inc., in which she argued that the existence of implicit bias required the retention of the disparate impact standard in fair housing cases. Paraphrasing her argument, the United States Supreme Court for the first time recognized the existence of implicit bias and its effect on decision making.

Prior to her work at LSNC, Ms. Matsuoka clerked for Judge Harry Pregerson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. 

Ms. Matsuoka earned her juris doctor from UCLA School of Law, where she specialized in Public Interest Law & Policy, served as Articles Editor of the UCLA Law Review, and earned entry into the Order of the Coif for academic excellence.

Before law school, Ms. Matsuoka worked in Washington, D.C., where she served as a Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellow, a Health Research Assistant for a U.S. Senator, a Legislative Assistant for a U.S. Representative, and as a community organizer working with foster youth to improve the D.C. foster care system.iption goes here