Jay Smith
Attorney Profile
Top Rated Employment & Labor Attorney in Los Angeles, CA
Attorney Jay Smith is a shareholder at Gilbert & Sackman, A Law Corporation, in Los Angeles, California. Mr. Smith focuses his practice on union-based and class action employment law matters, particularly wage and hour claims. He serves clients including United Steelworkers and many labor organizations and unions in Los Angeles and throughout Southern California as well as across California statewide.
Mr. Smith has decades of legal experience and has been involved in many major union and employment law matters over the course of his career. He has established himself as a premiere labor union attorney, dedicated to helping employees and union members. Over the course of his career, he has successfully bargained and litigated on behalf of union members before several different courts.
Born and raised in Gadsden, Alabama, Mr. Smith previously practiced at private firms in the Huntsville, Alabama, area before relocating to California and joining Gilbert & Sackman, A Law Corporation. He is a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association Labor and Employment Law Section, the California Lawyers Association Labor and Employment Law Section, the Alabama State Bar, the National Lawyers Guild and the AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee.
Dedicated to professional education, Mr. Smith regularly speaks on employment and labor law topics for bar associations and educational institutions. He has also spoken for groups including the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the Orange County Labor and Employment Relations Association.
Mr. Smith is a 1980 graduate of Harvard College, where he earned a bachelor’s degree. He received his law degree from the University of Alabama School of Law. Following law school, he spent one year as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer before entering private law practice.
- 80%Employment & Labor: Employee
- 10%Class Action/Mass Torts: Plaintiff
- 10%Employee Benefits
Employment Law - Employee, Wage & Hour Laws, Class Actions
Selections
- Super Lawyers: 2009 - 2013, 2015 - 2023
Additional Sources of Information About Jay Smith
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About Jay Smith
First Admitted: 1983, Alabama
Professional Webpage: https://www.gslaw.org/jay-smith
Scholarly Lectures/Writings
- Jay is a frequent lecturer in topics involving private-sector labor law, employment law and ERISA. He has spoken at seminars sponsored by the Los Angeles County Bar Association, the State Bar of Alabama, the Orange County Industrial Relations Research Association, the United Steelworkers, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the Cumberland School of Law, and Los Angeles Trade and Technical College.
- Contributing author of Employee Benefits Law, 2d Ed. (BNA and ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law, 2000)
Bar/Professional Activity
- AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee
- National Lawyers Guild
- Los Angeles County Bar Association Labor and Employment Section
- California State Bar Labor and Employment Section
- California and Alabama State Bars
Pro bono/Community Service
- VISTA Volunteer
Representative Clients
- United Steelworkers (District Counsel for 11 western states), Laboratory Film/Video Technicians and Cinetechnicians, Local 683, IATSE; American Guild of Variety Artists; IATSE Locals 768 and 33
Educational Background
- A.B. Harvard College, 1980
Last Updated: 5/15/2022