Paul K. Wilcox - Santa Barbara, CA

Paul's practice is limited to representation of employers and managers in employment law matters. Paul believes that his clients are best served by the “preventative medicine” approach to employment law, which is advising management regarding day-to-day personnel issues with the goal of avoiding claims and liability. The other half of Paul's practice is representation of clients in litigation when preventative medicine has not been successful. Paul is familiar with all legal aspects of the employee-employer relationship, including investigation and defense of harassment claims, wage and hour compliance, litigation and class actions, leaves of absence and accommodation obligations to the disabled employee. Paul's ultimate goal is to prevent his clients from getting sued in the first place, thereby enabling them to spend precious time and resources on creating value for the organization. When litigation does occur, Paul helps employers balance the economic realities of the litigation, the potential for liability, and the intangible issues of principle and precedent that cannot be easily put into economic terms. Paul views his role as identifying options and consequences, but allowing his client to make the final decision Paul represents clients before state and federal court, the California Labor Commissioner, the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board (132a and S&W claims only), the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

In his professional capacity, Paul is active in the Santa Barbara Human Resources Association, in which Mullen & Henzell L.L.P. holds a board seat as legal counsel and legislative liaison. In addition, Paul is a frequent lecturer on employment law issues for a number of educational providers. Paul also offers private training to his clients management employees on issues such as, for example, effective documentation of performance issues, sexual harassment, and nuts-and-bolts wage and hour compliance. Paul will develop a specialized training agenda to suit the needs of individual clients, and then will deliver the information in a way designed to maintain the interest that promotes learning.