Bio

Jim McMullen is a partner in the San Diego, Orange County and Los Angeles offices of Gordon & Rees. For nine years, Mr. McMullen led the firm’s Labor & Employment (L&E) practice group in Southern California, building the group into the robust group it is today. Mr. McMullen now serves in other management roles and is the coordinator of the NLRB, OSHA and Cal-OSHA practice groups at Gordon & Rees. Mr. McMullen has successfully handled NLRB, OSHA, and DOL proceedings for national clients throughout the United States. Mr. McMullen often assists in the L&E aspects of due diligence periods for M&A purposes and assists with employer audits of various types. Mr. McMullen has coordinated the L&E issues during M&A related transaction including review of Labor Agreements, Employment Agreements and all Employer P&P and payroll practices. He also consults regarding bargaining unit merger and unit acquisition issues in the M&A area of practice. He also coordinates bridge D&O and EPL coverage and has litigated M&A related employment disputes before Labor Arbitrators, AAA Arbitrators, and in Courts. The groups Gordon & Rees assembles to accomplish these types of tasks includes attorney from the various states whose laws may be implicated, handbook and various enforcement and compliance specialists, as well as transactional ERISA lawyers. Mr. McMullen is a nationally-recognized trial lawyer in all areas of employment law, in addition to litigating significant and complex non-employment matters. He has been featured in national television and press, and his experience as a jury trial attorney has been verified by and has led to his admission to the ranks of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). He represents a wide range of clients in the maritime, transportation, manufacturing, high-tech and construction industries. In addition to his litigation and agency practice, Mr. McMullen assists employers with various types of compliance programs. He routinely develops employee relations strategies for specialized industries and coordinates the implementation, administration and review of such strategies. He also has provided WARN and reduction-in-force counseling to various national and international clients. Prior to joining Gordon & Rees, Mr. McMullen was a senior shareholder at Littler Mendelson where he assisted clients in many locations along the West Coast and Pacific Rim with employee-related matters for more than 15 years. At Littler Mendelson, he developed expertise in a wide range of employment and labor law issues with a special expertise in jurisdictional questions and disputes. Previous to Littler, Mr. McMullen was with general practice firms where he focused on the maritime, transportation, construction and insurance industries. He has also worked in the research, real estate, construction, security and semi-conductor industries. Mr. McMullen holds a California Real Estate license. Additionally, Mr. McMullen is a licensed pilot and has tried several aviation related cases. Mr. McMullen has served as a Judge Pro-Tem and a State and County Bar Fee Arbitrator.