John E. McOsker

John E. McOsker

Pronouns: he, him, his

John McOsker has been a complex business litigator, and labor and employment litigator and day-to-day employer advisor since he joined the State Bar of California in 1993. Throughout his career he has served in various roles for the firms with which he was affiliated including managing partner, litigation group chair, business litigation subcommittee chair and management advisory board. Upon graduation from law school and admission to the bar, John’s practice has been focused on business litigation and labor and employment in the private security, healthcare, insurance, and aviation sectors. John has defended companies in California state and federal courts, various forms of administrative hearings, agency enforcement actions, and adversarial proceedings, including in front of the Federal Aviation Administration, the Small Business Administration, the United States Department of Labor, the National Labor Relations Board, the California Attorney General, California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunities Commission.  John defends employers with regard to single plaintiff employment claims (Title VII, FEHA), wage and hour class actions, and PAGA claims.

John represents employers in a wide variety of employment-related matters, including both defense of litigation and day-to-day counseling regarding employment decisions, employee conflict and liability avoidance, and legal compliance. John is a member of the LA County Bar Association’s Labor & Employment Section, which concerns itself with significant developments in employment discrimination law. John has not only experienced labor and employment from a lawyer’s perspective, but he has actively and directly managed legal departments, compliance departments and human resources staffs both in-house and as a dedicated outside Legal/HR Manager, for over a decade. As a result, John has not only first-hand experience giving sound labor and employment advice, but also on-the-ground experience executing legal, compliance and human resources strategies.

Additionally, John assists employers developing strategies to avoid litigation. This includes working with employers to modify employment policies and practices, conducting workplace investigations, engaging in workplace counseling/interactive process, and drafting employee handbooks, employment agreements, arbitration agreements and severance agreements.  John assists employers with devising and executing recruiting strategies, reductions-in-force, onboarding and off-boarding.  John helps employers devise and roll-out policies that enhance clients’ objectives while complying with the law.

Finally, John has a significant traditional labor law practice, both transactional and adversarial.  John negotiates and drafts collective bargaining agreements and memoranda of understanding covering workforces in the service industries spanning unique and diverse jurisdictions, across the state and country.  In addition to negotiating and drafting agreements, John defends grievances, conducts arbitrations, represents clients on Unfair Labor Practice charges, participates in representation hearings, elections, de-certifications, and other NLRB proceedings.

John’s entire legal career has been spent in and around Los Angeles and he has volunteered his time and expertise to the local community. He was appointed by Mayor James K. Hahn to serve on the Harbor Area Planning Commission and did so from 2001-2006. He served as the Commission’s President from 2002-2006. In addition to his service on the Area Planning Commission, he was appointed to membership on the Port Community Advisory Committee. He has volunteered as a member of the Board of Managers of the San Pedro Peninsula YMCA since 2005 and has been a legal volunteer for the St. Lawrence Brindisi/Watts Youth Center since 1995. John is a founding Board Member of LA Fleet Week, a non-profit established to annually host the United States Navy for fleet activities in the Los Angeles Harbor beginning 2016.

  • J.D., Santa Clara University, 1993
  • B.A., University of Notre Dame, 1989
  • State Bar of California
  • Supreme Court of California
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • 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
  • American Bar Association
  • American Healthcare Lawyers Association
  • Defense Research Institute
  • Federal Bar Association
  • Irish American Bar Association
  • Los Angeles County Bar Association
  • Sorin Society