Outside General Counsel for California employers
Most attorneys know one side of an employment dispute. Scott Schwartz has spent his career on both. Companies retain him as outside general counsel for the same reason opposing counsel take him seriously: he knows how these cases are built, because he has built them.
General counsel work, without the general counsel payroll
Employment counseling & compliance
Day-to-day advice on hiring, discipline, terminations, wage-and-hour questions, and written compliance guidance before problems become claims.
Arbitration & litigation defense
Defense of employment claims in arbitration and pre-litigation matters — with a plaintiff-side veteran’s read on exposure, leverage and settlement value.
Insurance & carrier coordination
Tender of claims, EPLI carrier notice and strategy, and counsel on when self-defending within a retention serves the company better than ceding control.
Policies, contracts & benefit plans
Handbooks, agreements and retirement-plan questions reviewed with an eye for the disputes they create — and the ones they quietly prevent.
Companies that keep us on speed dial
A sample of ongoing outside general counsel relationships, described to preserve client confidentiality.
Why employers hire a lawyer who usually sits on the other side
After decades representing injured workers, Scott knows exactly which employer mistakes turn into expensive claims — and how plaintiff’s counsel will value, build and press a case against you. That perspective shapes everything from the wording of a termination letter to the timing of a settlement offer. For opposing counsel, it means the company across the table is not being advised by someone learning this area on your case.