People: Dana Howells, Senior Counsel

Dana Howells

Senior Counsel

Los Angeles - Downtown
Direct: (213) 270-9678

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Biography

Ms. Howells is senior counsel in the Labor and Employment Department in the Los Angeles office of Seyfarth Shaw LLP. Ms. Howells focuses her practice on advising businesses on all aspects of employment relationships from pre-hire screening to terminations and reductions-in-force. Areas of concentration include ERISA and employee benefits, discrimination, wage and hour, contacts, severance, compensation, FMLA and mandated leaves, disability/reasonable accommodations, harassment/internal investigations, privacy and workplace violence prevention. In addition to advising employers on compliance and problem-solving, Ms. Howells has represented employers before administrative agencies, self-regulatory agencies, in jury and bench trials, and before state and federal appellate courts. Depending on the client’s goals, she has resolved many disputes through arbitration, mediation and negotiation.

Prior to joining Seyfarth Shaw, Ms. Howells worked as in-house counsel for over 16 years for The Capital Group Companies, Inc.

Education

J.D., University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law
Order of the Coif
UCLA Law Review
Moot Court finals
Eleanor Klein Award (top woman graduate)
B.A., University of Texas
with highest honors and special honors
Phi Beta Kappa
debate
Ferguson Prize (top History graduate)

Admissions

California

Courts

U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
U.S. District Courts for the Central, Eastern, Northern and Southern Districts of California

Affiliations

Los Angeles County Bar Association (Chair, Labor and Employment Law Section, 2010-2011; Amicus Brief Committee, 2010-2011; Outstanding Jurist Committee, 2010)
State Bar of California (Labor and Employment Law Section)
Goodwill Industries Southern California Board of Advisors (1998 to present)

Representative Engagements

Capital Group Cos. v. Armour, 2005 Del. Ch. LEXIS 38 (March 13, 2005) (upholding privately-held company’s stock restriction agreement against challenge by nonemployee spouse)
Gregory Lyndon House v. American Funds Service Co,. Orange County Superior Court Case No. 804093 (disability discrimination with market timing twists)
Gary Ray v. Lodgco, Inc. and J.E. Kettler Trust, Los Angeles Superior Court Case No. YC034743 (as in-house counsel, coordinated 200 plaintiff personal injury action against trust for alleged oil-drilling related contamination brought by Girardi firm; obtained insurance coverage and cost-effective settlement preserving trust assets)
Kane v. Capital Guardian Trust Co., 145 F.3d 1218 (10th Cir. 1998) (case of first impression holding that mutual fund transfer agent could honor IRS levy by redemption of shares with no auction process)
McDonald v. Pan American World Airways, Inc. Employee Stock Ownership Plan, 856 F.2d 742 (9th Cir. 1988) (upholding plan administrator’s discretion to interpret ESOP plan language about distributions timing; entertaining ”ham or eggs” dissent by Hon. Alex Kozinski)
Gilchrist v. Jim Slemmons Imports, Inc., 803 F.2d 1488 (9th Cir. 1986) (as appellate counsel) (admission of EEOC ”letter of violation” in age discrimination jury trial more prejudicial that EEOC probable cause determination)
American Hospital Association v. NLRB, 499 U.S. 606 (1991) (challenging Board’s bargaining unit rule for hospitals)
Roberts v. College of the Desert, 870 F.2d 1411 (9th Cir. 1989) (public sector discrimination and retaliation case where large reduction in damages was achieved post-trial)

Presentations

"The Entrepreneurship Institute," The President’s Forum, Southern California, Health Care and the Cost (April 7, 2011)
"For Your Benefit: 2011 Benefits Law Developments for Employment Law Practitioners," Los Angeles County Bar Association Labor and Employment Law 2011 Symposium (March 31, 2011)
"The Reasonable Accommodation Dialogue: What You Need to Do and Say," Webinar (February 24, 2011)
"Privacy in the Workplace: A Need-to-Know Checklist for California Employers" (November 18, 2010)
"Into the Future, The Next Decade of Employment Law," 2010 Advance Labor and Employment Law Conference for In-house Counsel (social media panel) (November 10, 2010)
"I Spy: an Update on Surveillance, Monitoring and Rights of Privacy," Employers Roundtable of Southern California (November 4, 2010)
"Avoiding the Pitfalls of Social Media in the Working Place," Breakfast Briefing Series (October 13, 21 and 26, 2010)
"What Labor and Employment Lawyers Need to Know about Healthcare Reform," Webinar (July 2010)