Munck Wilson Mandala expanded its Los Angeles office with a labor and employment duo that brings 60 years of combined legal experience to the firm. Partner James H. Berry, Jr. is a highly respected labor and employment lawyer with more than 44 years of experience representing clients in litigation and employment law. Kate LaQuay is a principal attorney who brings 16 years of experience representing clients in employment litigation and business litigation matters. Both lawyers are licensed to practice in California state and federal courts and their impressive backgrounds, client representation, and track record of successes expand and strengthen the suite of legal services MWM provides on the West Coast. They previously worked at Landau Law, LLP in Los Angeles.
“This is the kind of growth we have focused on in our LA office since opening in 2018,” said managing partner William A. Munck. “We started with a strong litigation team, adding corporate and transactional lawyers, and now we have a dynamic team of employment litigators who bring decades of experience representing clients in LA and California.”
“We are excited to join Munck Wilson and look forward to a productive and enriched partnership. Their deep bench of litigation, corporate, entertainment, and other practices will help us expand client services,” said Berry.
Berry’s practice has centered on business litigation and employment litigation, and he also advises clients in business and employment matters. His employment litigation experience includes representing clients in discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination, disability compliance, whistleblower claims, and wage and hour claims. In commercial litigation, Berry advises clients on matters related to breach of contract, trade secret claims, unfair competition, class actions, and a variety of IP infringement litigation disputes.
Berry practices before all California courts and he is admitted to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. District Courts for the Central, Eastern, Northern, and Southern Districts of California. He received his J.D. from Yale Law School, and he earned his Bachelor of Arts from Vanderbilt University.
LaQuay’s practice is focused on representing clients in defense of wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, wage/hour disputes, and various other employment law related matters. She began her career as an associate at a global law firm in Los Angeles, working on various litigation matters, and she joined Berry at his boutique law firm in 2011, representing clients in employment and general business litigation matters.
LaQuay is a member of the State Bar of California and admitted to practice in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. District Courts for the Central, Eastern, Northern, and Southern Districts of California. She received her J.D. from the University of California, Davis School of Law where she was an editor of the UC Davis Law Review, a member of the Order of the Coif, and graduated in the top five percent of her class. In law school, LaQuay earned American Jurisprudence Awards in three subjects, and she completed a judicial externship for the Honorable Garland E. Burrell, Jr., U.S. District Court Judge for the Eastern District of California. LaQuay earned her Bachelor of Arts in political science from Stanford University.
Munck Wilson Mandala is a full-service, technology-focused law firm known for its powerful litigation teams that represent clients in patent, trade secret, trademark, and other intellectual property disputes as well as high stakes and complex commercial litigation. Named Litigation Department of the Year in the midsize firm/general litigation category in 2020 and 2018 by Texas Lawyer, the firm has offices in Dallas, Austin and Marshall, Texas, Los Angeles, California, and Miami, Florida. Munck Wilson Mandala represents clients from start-ups to Fortune 50 companies.
