Partner
and access,
Robert Matsuishi has experience in complex business matters involving trade secret misappropriation, non-competition agreements, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, unfair competition, securities fraud, corporate governance violations, and real property disputes, including landlord-tenant disputes. He also has extensive experience litigating labor and employment matters, with a focus on wrongful termination claims, discrimination, harassment, accommodation, and retaliation claims, alleged violations of medical and family leave laws, whistleblower retaliation claims under the California Labor Code, the False Claims Act, and the Defense Contractor Whistleblower Protection Act/NDAA, and alleged violations of federal, state, and local wage-and-hour laws. The scope of these matters has varied from single-plaintiff cases to high-stakes class actions and representative Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”) actions. Robert also regularly counsels clients in employment law matters, including revising employee handbooks, policies, and agreements, assisting with onboarding, termination, discipline, and severance issues, responding to regulatory investigations, securing employee civil restraining orders, and evicting terminated employees from employer-paid housing. Robert is intimately familiar with the variety and differences in the procedural rules of federal and California courts, as well as in AAA, JAMS, FINRA, and CSLB arbitration. Over the course of 14 years, he has also developed a deep understanding of the unique customs, practices, and needs of clients in the facilities services, technology, financial services, defense, real estate, hospitality, and consumer products industries. Before joining Payne & Fears, Robert was an associate in the Los Angeles offices of two national law firms, where he represented major broker-dealers, investment advisers, and investment managers in securities, real property, and corporate governance disputes. In law school, Robert served as an Articles Editor for the Environmental Law & Policy Annual Review and served as an intern for the Judge Advocate General of the United States Army, where he assisted senior policymakers to implement and enforce the rules of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. He also served as an extern for the Tennessee Attorney General where he obtained civil litigation experience defending the state’s child services, housing, and public health agencies. Outside the office, Robert enjoys rough-housing with his two young children, wine tasting and collecting, exploring the up-and-coming Orange County culinary scene, evaluating personal investments, honing his poker skills, and attempting (thus far, unsuccessfully) to get back to a single-digit golf handicap.
