April 2, 2008
THE DAILY JOURNAL
By Devan McClaine
SAN FRANCISCO – Labor and employment attorney Karen Kubin has left Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld’s San Francisco office to become a partner at Morrison & Foerster.
Kubin say she’s eager to join a practice that has advised Coca Cola Co., McDonald’s Corp. and United Parcel Service Inc. in various class action matters.
Before joining Akin Gump in 2004, Kubin spent 27 years with Cooley Godward Kronish. She advises employers in class actions, wage-and-hour disputes and other labor litigation.
In 2006, she represented Albertsons Inc. in a class certification case involving grocery managers who say they were owed overtime. The class certification was denied and the order later affirmed on appeal.
Morrison & Foerster’s chair Keith Wetmore said Kubin’s hiring is an effort to bolster the firm’s labor class action practice firm wide.
“Her practice is truly a national practice,” Wetmore said of Kubin. “We have been looking for someone like Karen nationwide. We were happy to find her in San Francisco.”
Steven Kaufmann, the chair of Morrison & Foerster’s litigation department said Kubin is one of the best labor and employment litigators in the state. Kaufmann said Kubin’s other areas of expertise, including harassment matters and trade secrets, will also aide the firm’s clients.
Joining Kubin from Akin Gump is attorney Heather Burror. Burror is a specialist in labor and employment, advising employers on matters including discrimination and harassment. Kubin and Burror worked together at Cooley Godward and later at Akin Gump.
Legal search firm Watanabe Nason Schwartz & Lippman represented Morrison & Foerster in the hirings.