California Federal Civil Rules: With Local Practice Commentary

Dana J. Dunwoody is a partner in the San Diego County, Del Mar Heights office of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton's Business Trial Practice Group. Mr. Dunwoody's general business trial, arbitration and litigation practice emphasizes disputes concerning hotels, retail, real property, and complex contract, corporate, and partnership disputes. Mr. Dunwoody is a member of the International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC).

Mr. Dunwoody is the former Chair of the Executive Committee (1998–1999) of the then 12,000 member Litigation Section of the California State Bar. From 1990 to 1994 he served as the Editor-In-Chief of Cal. Lit. News, the Litigation Section's newsletter. Mr. Dunwoody also served as a Board member of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers of San Diego. Mr. Dunwoody is a frequent lecturer and panelist in continuing education programs sponsored by the California Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB), the Association of Business Trial Lawyers (ABTL), the National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA) and other organizations, where he has taught classes on trial and deposition techniques and strategies.

Mr. Dunwoody has served as a Consulting Editor for CEB's "Action Guide" series. He co-authored a chapter on Alternative Dispute Resolution, Mediation and Arbitration of hospitality disputes in "Hotel Investments: Issues & Perspectives"—4th Edition. He has edited portions of CEB's "Effective Use of ADR in California," and has written numerous other articles on legal and hotel-related topics.

Prior to joining Sheppard Mullin, Mr. Dunwoody practiced for 15 years as a member of Mazzarella, Dunwoody & Caldarelli LLP, in San Diego, a boutique trial firm he founded. Prior to that, Mr. Dunwoody was associated with the San Diego office of Allen, Matkins, Leck, Gamble & Mallory, San Diego's Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps, and Los Angeles's Cox, Castle & Nicholson. Mr. Dunwoody is a former Judicial Extern for the Honorable Laughlin E. Waters of the United States District Court for the Central District of California. He received his Juris Doctor degree in 1985 from Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley, where he served as an Associate Editor for the Industrial Relations Law Journal. Mr. Dunwoody received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, San Diego, with High Honors in Economics.

Laura Fowler is an attorney in Sacramento, California, of counsel to Best Best & Krieger LLP ( www.bbklaw.com). She received her B.A. from California State University, Sacramento, and her J.D. from McGeorge School of Law, where she graduated as Valedictorian and where she served on the editorial staff of the Pacific Law Journal. Ms. Fowler clerked for Judge Milton L. Schwartz of the United States District Court, Eastern District of California from 1996 to 1998.

Ms. Fowler specializes in employment law, representing employers in a variety of court and administrative proceedings. She has defended both public and private employers in lawsuits in state and federal court for wrongful termination, breach of contract, unpaid wages, harassment, failure to accommodate, retaliation, and discrimination. She has also represented various public and private entities in proceedings before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board, and the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement. Ms. Fowler also provides employers with day-to-day advice regarding wage and hour issues, leaves of absence, disability accommodations, and decisions regarding discipline and termination, and she drafts employee handbooks, policies, employment agreements, and severance agreements.

Ms. Fowler is a member of the State Bar of California, the American Bar Association, the Sacramento Area Human Resources Association, and the Sacramento Employers Advisory Council.

Marc M. Seltzer is partner of Susman Godfrey L.L.P. and a member of the firm's Executive Committee. He joined the firm in February 1998, and became resident head of the firm's new Los Angeles office. Prior to joining Susman Godfrey L.L.P., he was a partner in the law firm of Corinblit & Seltzer, a Professional Corporation, for more than 20 years. He has concentrated his practice in the prosecution and defense of complex business law cases, with a strong emphasis on antitrust, securities, corporate and financial institution law.

Over the years of his practice, Mr. Seltzer has been counsel in numerous high profile cases, including the Equity Funding, Taxable Bond and ZZZZ Best securities fraud cases and the Corrugated Container antitrust case and, more recently, the Vitamins and Korean Airlines antitrust cases. He has also argued several appeals in the Fifth and Ninth Circuits.

Mr. Seltzer graduated from UCLA Law School and was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1972. He is a member of the Bars of the United States District Courts for the Central, Southern, Eastern and Northern Districts of California, Eastern District of Michigan and Eastern District of Texas, and the United States Courts of Appeals for the Fifth, Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Circuits. He is a member of the American Bar Association (and its Business Law, Antitrust Law, Torts and Insurance Law and Litigation Sections), the American Association for Justice and the Los Angeles County Bar Association. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Litigation Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. He is also a member of the Board of Governors of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers. He served on the Executive Committee of the Antitrust and Unfair Competition Law Section of the State Bar of California. He is past President and a member of the Board of Directors of the Ninth Judicial Circuit Historical Society and past President and member of the Board of Directors of the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles.

In 1985, Mr. Seltzer was elected to the membership of the American Law Institute. He is also a member of the Selden Society. In 1972 and 1973, he was a Deputy Attorney General for the State of California specializing in handling criminal appeals.

Mr. Seltzer is a frequent lecturer on various aspects of complex civil litigation, including participating in programs sponsored by the California Continuing Education of the Bar, the American Bar Association, the Practicing Law Institute, the American Association for Justice, the Los Angeles County Bar Association, Prentice-Hall and Glasser Legal Works.

Tyler M. Paetkau, a Partner at Hartnett, Smith & Paetkau, has represented employers in labor and employment law matters for more than 30 years. Tyler has handled a variety of labor and employment challenges, including claims of wrongful termination, discrimination, retaliation, sexual harassment, defamation, wage and hour violations, unpaid commissions, collective and class actions, and unfair labor practice charges. Tyler also represents employers in litigation involving unfair competition, misappropriation of trade secrets, restrictive covenants, and employee mobility issues. He also has extensive experience representing employers in traditional union-management labor relations matters, including union organizing campaigns, strikes, and collective bargaining negotiations. Tyler also specializes in international labor and employment law issues and is active in the ABA’s International Labor and Employment Law Committee.

Tyler received his J.D. from the University of Michigan. He is a frequent writer and speaker on employment law issues and has served as the contributing editor of several employment law publications, including Bender’s California Labor & Employment Bulletin, California Labor and Employment Law Review, and California Business Law Reporter. He has also served as the co-editor of the American Bar Association’s Labor & Employment Law Section of the International Labor Law Committee e-newsletter. Tyler is the author of Hiring and Firing, published by Entrepreneur Press (2007).