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Jim has been practicing law in the Monterey Bay and Salinas Valley area for over 35 years. For over 20 years, the primary emphasis of his practice has been labor and employment litigation, representing primarily employees. Jim also serves as a court-appointed mediator for litigation pending in Monterey County.
Alison has been a trial attorney in the Monterey Bay Area for over 25 years. Her practice at the Salinas-based firm Fitzpatrick & Swanston focuses on labor and employment litigation, primarily plaintiff-side sexual harassment, discrimination, and retaliation claims, as well as class and representative wage and hour actions. Prior to joining Fitzpatrick & Swanston in October 2022, Alison was the Director of Litigation for the Watsonville Law Center, a nonprofit legal services office focused on using civil litigation to achieve justice for poor and vulnerable communities in the areas of employment, housing, and consumer protection law. Her practice history includes a decade of service as a Judicial Attorney for the Santa Cruz County Superior Court at the Watsonville Court Self Help Center/Family Law Facilitator. She also practiced plaintiff-side litigation as a private-practice trial attorney at San Francisco-based law firm Kemnitzer, Anderson, Barron & Ogilvie. Early in her legal career, Alison served as outside litigation defense counsel to public entities in Monterey County. Alison has utilized her Spanish language fluency not only to assist Spanish-speaking workers in California, but also to further Spanish-language protections in consumer financing, auto sales and leasing, and prosecuting unfair debt collection practices and unfair/unlawful credit reporting.
Laura has represented California employees and employers in labor and employment litigation matters for over ten years. Since joining Fitzpatrick & Swanston in January 2020, Laura’s practice has focused on representing workers in both individual and class/representative actions, including wage and hour, discrimination, harassment, whistleblower retaliation, failure to accommodate, and wrongful termination matters. Prior to joining Fitzpatrick & Swanston, Laura provided litigation defense and employment counseling to private and public employers in California with regard to a wide variety of workplace matters, including wage and hour practices, discrimination and harassment claims, accommodation and leave issues, workplace investigations, sexual harassment prevention training, and drafting employment policies and contracts. Earlier in her legal career, Laura’s practice included a variety of civil litigation matters beyond labor and employment issues, including personal injury, product defect claims, and business litigation.