Last Friday, May 6, 2022, our own Lina Balciunas Cockrell spoke at the 2022 Public Sector Conference in San Francisco sponsored by the Labor and Employment Law Section of the California Lawyers Association. Her panel's topic was Demystifying PERS: An Overview of the Litigation Process and Pitfalls. Lina, who has appeared before CalPERS (California Public... continue reading

The recent decision by the United States Supreme Court in Thompson v. Clark, 596 U.S. ____ (2022) has caused considerable concern among police officers and prosecutors. These law enforcement professionals who daily arrest and charge criminal defendants on the basis of probable cause may worry that they are now more vulnerable to malicious prosecution claims... continue reading

One of the key protections for a peace officer in the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights Act (“POBR”) is the right to have a representative whenever an interrogation could lead to punitive action against the officer. This protection is not limited to interrogations performed by Internal Affairs, but covers questioning by any supervisor... continue reading

On February 9, 2022, Governor Newsom signed into law S.B. 114, which resurrects California’s COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave law. This law was first enacted in 2020 to fill a gap left by the COVID-19 related paid sick leave provided under federal law. When the federal law expired at the end of 2020, California extended... continue reading

Messing Adam & Jasmine LLP is very pleased to announce the association of Alison Berry Wilkinson, in her new role as Of Counsel to MAJ. Alison will continue as principal with Berry Wilkinson Law Group, the firm she founded in 2008, while taking on new cases and challenges with MAJ. Alison is a long-time friend... continue reading

In a pension rights case with major implications, on August 10th, the First District Court of Appeal issued a decision for the retiree in Nowicki v. Contra Costa County Employees’ Retirement Association (Case No. A160337). In a surprising but welcome result, the Court overruled the retirement system’s attempt to reduce the retiree’s pension benefit retroactively... continue reading

A plan by the Newsom administration and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to close the California Correctional Center (CCC) in Susanville was dealt a setback this week when a Lassen County judge issued a Temporary Restraining Order halting the closure. The order was based on the State’s failure to comply with the... continue reading

They did it again! Gary Messing, Gregg Adam, and Jason Jasmine were listed again this year in the Lawdragon listing of 500 Leading Plaintiff Employment Lawyers in the Country. This “indispensable guide to the heroic lawyers throughout the U.S. working to ensure that workers’ rights are respected and fairly compensated” was recently published for the... continue reading

We are proud to update you that on January 29, 2021, MAJ Attorneys Gary Messing, Monique Alonso, and Laurie Burgess secured a preliminary injunction against Foster Poultry Farms to protect workers at its Livingston plant represented by the United Farm Workers (“UFW”). This ruling comes hot on the heels of the Merced County Superior Court’s... continue reading

In a win for all public sector employees and retirees in the CalPERS system, the Third District Court of Appeal on Monday rejected Transparent California's effort to reverse the Sacramento Superior Court's ruling that CalPERS could withhold records identifying which of its retirees is disabled. This leaves standing the Superior Court's decision that CalPERS correctly... continue reading