John Barber is a partner in the Los Angeles and Orange County offices of Lewis Brisbois, Chair of the Labor & Employment Practice, and a member of the firm’s Management Committee. His practice is dedicated exclusively to representing and counseling employers in employment-related matters, including litigation, appeals, risk management, policy preparation, and training.

He represents employers in State and Federal Courts, both in California and across the United States, and has extensive experience appearing before all state and federal employment-related agencies, including the California DFEH, DLSE, and EDD, and United States EEOC, and Department of Labor.

Mr. Barber's practice has a particular emphasis, in addition to single-party discrimination, harassment, retaliation and wrongful termination actions, on wage-and-hour class action litigation. He has defended dozens of class actions, and has specifically defeated Motions for Class Certification. Mr. Barber also serves as one of the principal, lead trial attorneys in the Practice Group, with numerous successful verdicts. He is also a member of the Crisis Management Practice and regularly manages crises pertaining to employment matters.

Mr. Barber served on the California State Bar’s Executive Committee, Labor and Employment Law Section (2008 – 2013) and was an advisor to that committee for years. He was a member of the Judicial Appointments Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar (2009-2014) and is currently a member of the Los Angeles  County Bar’s Judicial Election Evaluation Committee (2012-present). He also lectures and writes extensively.

Active in the community as a member of multiple philanthropic and civic organizations, Mr. Barber is married with four children.

Appellate Decisions

Publications

Pro Bono & Philanthropy

Professional Presentations

2022

• Pincus Professional Education – “Advanced Mediation Strategies and Tactics for the Employment Law Case” (February 3, 2022, Online)

2021

• Curb Bad Behavior (Part II) Panel: Preventing Sexual Harassment from a Male Perspective (July 26, 2021, Online)

2020

• CLA – Annual Conference Panel: “Hot Topics in Wage and Hour Law” (December 9, 2020, Online)

• 15th Annual Superior Court Boot Camp Panel: Depositions in State Court (October 14, 2020 – Zoom, Online)

2018

• CAALA Las Vegas: Employment Law Panel (August 30, 2018 – Wynn & Encore, Las Vegas, NV)

2017

• 15th Annual Advanced Mediation & Advocacy Skills Institute: "Negotiating In the Caucus Stage of Mediation" (October 19, 2017 – Malibu, CA)
• LACBA Labor & Employment Section’s Annual Retreat; EPLI: "The Nuances of an Employment Law Claim" (May 20, 2017 – Rancho Mirage, CA)

2016

• ACI - 8th Annual Employment Discrimination Litigation Conference: "Joint Employer Liability in the Employment Discrimination Context" (July 29, 2016 – Chicago, IL)
• LA County Bar 36th Annual Labor and Employment Law Symposium; "Wage and Hour/PAGA Issues" (March 9, 2016 – Los Angeles, CA)

2015

• SRMC Fall Conference – "Cyber Security: Coverage Issues" (October 17, 2015 – Newport Beach, CA)
• ACE NY CLE Seminar TBD (October 12, 2015 – Jersey City, NJ)
• 2015 State Bar Annual Meeting : "Mastering Employment Mediations" (October 8, 2015 – Anaheim, CA)
• 88th Annual Meeting of the State Bar of California “Mastering Employment Mediations” (October 8, 2015 – Anaheim, CA)
• ACI’s 25th Wage & Hour Claims and Class Actions Conference The Latest on Joint Employer Liability Under the Wage-and-Hour Laws; California Law “Nuances; and Defeating Joint Employment Allegations Early in Employment Litigation” (September 28-29, 2015 – San Francisco, CA)
• Professional Liability Underwriting Society (PLUS) “Substance Use & Marijuana in the Workplace” (September 24, 2015 – Newport Beach, CA)
• Bridgeport Continuing Education Litigating Discrimination & Harassment Claims “Holding Settlement Talks & Mediation” (August 21, 2015 – Hollywood, CA)
• ACI’s 7th Annual Forum on Defending and Managing Employment Discrimination “Arbitration on the Employment Discrimination Front” (July 27-28, 2015 – Chicago, IL)
• 2015 OCBA L&E Symposium “Technology and Social Media in the Workplace” (June 20, 2015 – Orange, CA)
• Beverly Hills Bar Association – Labor & Employment Law Section “EPLI Claims: Inside and Out” (June 16, 2015 – Beverly Hills, CA)

2014

• 2014 Employment & Worker’s Compensation Seminar (November 6, 2014 – Los Angeles, CA)
• 87th Annual Meeting of the State Bar of California “Labor & Employment and Worker’s Compensation Cross-Over Issues” (September 12, 2014 – San Diego, CA)
• ACI’s 21st National Forum on Wage & Hour Claims and  Class Actions, “Donning and Doffing & Walking Time Allegations, and the Latest Claims Arising from Meal and Rest Breaks” (May 30, 2014 – New York, NY)
• ACE NY CLE Seminar, “The admin process (EEOC and DFEH), forthcoming trends and the “tweener,” i.e., the w-a-h case with a covered claim thrown in” (April 18, 2014 – Jersey City, NJ)

2013

• 2013 Orange County Employment and Workers Compensation Law Seminar Leaves: The Banal to the Bizarre (November 7, 2013)
• 2013 Annual Meeting of the State Bar of California, Advanced Strategies for Mediating the Employment Case (October 11, 2013 – San Jose, CA)
• Litigating Discrimination & Harassment Claims Program, Holding Settlement Talks & Mediation (June 14, 2013 – Hollywood, CA)
• 2013 Orange County Employment and Worker’s Compensation Law Seminar, Leaves: The Banal to the Bizarre, John Barber Panel of Experts: You Ask, They Tell, John Barber, Mercedes Cruz, Nancy Zeltzer and Frank Cannizzaro (April 10, 2013)
• Seminar - Advanced Strategies for Mediating the Employment Case (February 20, 2013 – San Francisco, CA; February 27, 2013 – Los Angeles, CA)
• Webinar Presentation for Knowledge Group (January 15, 2013)

Admissions

• State Bar Admissions
  • California
• United States District Courts
  • United States District Court for the Central District of California
  • United States District Court for the Eastern District of California
  • United States District Court for the Northern District of California
  • United States District Court for the Southern District of California
  • United States District Court for the District of Colorado
  • United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
• United States Courts of Appeals
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Admissions

California, 1992

US Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit, 2001

US District Court, Central District, CA, 1992

US District Court, Southern District, CA, 1994

US District Court, Eastern District, CA, 1994

US District Court, Northern District, CA, 1994

United States District Court for the District of Colorado, 2005

Associations

• California State Bar, Labor and Employment Law Section
• Los Angeles County Bar Association, Labor and Employment Law Section
• Orange County Bar Association, Labor and Employment Law Section
• OC Sheriff’s Drug Use is Life Abuse, Board of Directors

Awards & Honors

• Best Lawyers in America, 2018—2023
• Southern California "Super Lawyer," 2007—2017

Education

Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, CA

Juris Doctor, 1992

Westminster College, Fulton, MO

Bachelor of Arts, 1989