People: Ann H. Qushair, Senior Counsel

Ann H. Qushair

Senior Counsel

Los Angeles - Century City
Direct: (310) 201-1503
Fax: (310) 201-5219
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Ms. Qushair joined Seyfarth Shaw LLP in 2003.  She is Senior Counsel in the Labor & Employment Department in the Los Angeles office but she regularly assists colleagues in other offices in the Firm’s other practice groups/departments with appellate matters.  Ms. Qushair devotes the majority of her practice to civil appellate and writ law before the California Courts of Appeal, California Supreme Court, and Ninth Circuit, both as party and amicus counsel.  She is one of the Firm’s principal appellate attorneys and is taking the lead in expanding and formalizing the Firm’s appellate practice.  As a litigator, Ms. Qushair’s practice involves representing employers in all aspects of labor and employment litigation, including wrongful termination, employment discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wage and hour, and breach of contract, under California law.  Ms. Qushair also provides employment law counseling.

Ms. Qushair has represented private employers in a variety of industries, including Hospitality, Personal Service, Transportation, Finance, and Communications on a wide range of substantive areas, including employment law, workers’ compensation law, insurance law, intellectual property law, and mortgage law. 

Ms. Qushair joined Seyfarth Shaw LLP in 2003.  She is Senior Counsel in the Labor & Employment Department in the Los Angeles office but she regularly assists colleagues in other offices in the Firm’s other practice groups/departments with appellate matters.  Ms. Qushair devotes the majority of her practice to civil appellate and writ law before the California Courts of Appeal, California Supreme Court, and Ninth Circuit, both as party and amicus counsel.  She is one of the Firm’s principal appellate attorneys and is taking the lead in expanding and formalizing the Firm’s appellate practice.  As a litigator, Ms. Qushair’s practice involves representing employers in all aspects of labor and employment litigation, including wrongful termination, employment discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wage and hour, and breach of contract, under California law.  Ms. Qushair also provides employment law counseling.

Ms. Qushair has represented private employers in a variety of industries, including Hospitality, Personal Service, Transportation, Finance, and Communications on a wide range of substantive areas, including employment law, workers’ compensation law, insurance law, intellectual property law, and mortgage law. 

Education

  • J.D., Cornell Law School (1994)
    Moot Court Executive Board (1992-1994) Moot Court Competitor - Finalist (1993) & Quarterfinalist (1992)
    Editor, Journal of Law & Public Policy (1992-1994)
  • B.A., University of California, Irvine (1991)
    cum laude

Courts

  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • U.S. District for the Central District of CAlifornia

Affiliations

  • American Bar Association Council of Appellate Lawyers

    CAL Programs Committee (2011)
    Nominating Committee (2006)

  • Los Angeles County Bar Association Appellate Courts Section
  • California Bar Association Labor & Employment Section

Representative Engagements

  • Costco Wholesale Corp. v. Superior Court, 47 Cal. 4th 725 (2009) – California wage and hour class action.  Instrumental in obtaining reversal in California Supreme Court on attorney-client privilege issue.
  • California managerial exemption overtime case involving managers at over 70 locations throughout the state.  Settled for less than 20 % of Plaintiffs’ initial demand.  Provided advice and counsel on reclassification of managers following decision.
  • California meal/rest break case involving several thousand employees.  Settled on particularly favorable terms.  Court noted settlement represented “bottom of the barrel” for these types of cases.
  • Nineteen Plaintiff wage and hour, discrimination, harassment, and retaliation case.  Settled on favorable grounds.  Obtained dismissal of several plaintiffs prior to settlement for failure to cooperate with discovery.
  • Obtained dismissal in all of four DLSE cases alleging unlawful chargebacks of commissions handled for telecommunications client.

Presentations

  • National Business Institute Seminar On Wage & Hour Law (February 1998)

Publications

  • “Ahead of the Class,” The Los Angeles Daily Journal, An Employment Law Update (April 16, 1998)
  • “When Is An Employee ‘Disabled?’A Critical Question,” The California Labor Letter (November 1997)
  • “When Is An Employee ‘Disabled?’A Critical Question,” The Mississippi Labor Letter (March 1998)
  • “Legal Aspects of Workplace Violence,” The Complete Workplace Violence Manual, Workplace Violence Research Institute (Laguna Beach 1997)
  • “Separation Anxiety? A Separation Agreement May Be The Cure,” The California Labor Letter (December 1996)