TAMARA S. FREEZE
KELLY Y. CHEN
J.D. University of California, Berkeley
B.A. University of California, Los Angeles
Bar Admissions
California, District of Columbia
Membership/Professional Associations
American Bar Association
Los Angeles County Bar Association Orange County Bar Association Labor & Employment Executive Committee 20010-2011
National Employment Lawyers’ Association
California Employment Lawyers’ Association
Experience
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, LLP (Los Angeles)
Littler Mendelson, P.C. (San Francisco)
Bryan Cave LLP (Irvine)
Upon graduation from law school, Ms. Freeze worked for several big law firms representing management and developed expertise in employment law. In March 2009, she opened her own firm, Law Offices of Tamara Freeze, focusing exclusively on plaintiff-side employment law (cases involving discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination, disability accommodation and wage and hour disputes). A year later, her practice had grown to three offices (Beverly Hills, Irvine, San Diego) and additional staff.
Ms. Freeze has substantial experience representing clients in discrimination and harassment disputes, wrongful discharge, breach of contract, unfair labor practice charges, and for unpaid compensation and benefits. Ms. Freeze frequently advises employees on the hiring and termination, the enforcement of company policies and practices, labor-management relations, wage and hour compliance, alternative dispute resolution, international employment law issues, trade secrets, severance negotiations and class action strategy. She has experience vigorously defending employee rights, educating drafting employment and settlement agreements, independently supervising cases, calculating settlement ranges and managing litigation.
As part of her practice, Ms. Freeze represents employees in state and federal courts throughout California, as well as in administrative proceedings, such as EEOC or DFEH. She is familiar with human resources procedures, business programs for employee recruitment, processing, orientation, performance evaluation systems, and employee counseling.
Publications
Blogs: http://www.orangecountyemploymentattorneyblog.com
Print: Ms. Freeze is also an author of several publications, such as “Evaluating Eligibility for FMLA Leave: Federal Case Law Underscores the Need for Informed Decision Making,” The Labor Lawyer, August 2006; Whitepaper “Strategic Initiatives for Countering the Class Action Epidemic,” May 2006, and a co-author, 2006 “Equity Compensation,” The National Employer.
Speaking Engagements
Ms. Freeze’s speaking engagements include: 2010 ABA Annual Meeting (San Francisco); 2010 Chapman Law School Employment Law Updates; LACBA (Los Angeles County Bar Association) Speaker at Solocon 2010.
Background
Ms. Freeze attended UCLA for her undergraduate studies and received her Bachelor’s degree, Magna Cum Laude. At UC Berkeley School of Law, Ms. Freeze excelled as a student and article editor of Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor Law. Prior to law school, Ms. Freeze worked for UCLA Athletics Department, was a private chess coach and a professional mathematics expert for the Los Angeles Unified School District. Ms. Freeze is fluent in Russian.
Sports Ms. Freeze is a Certified Chess Coach by the United States Chess Federation (USCF) and has a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ). Ms. Freeze is an active competitor and her BJJ accomplishments include: World Championship [Mundial] 2010 (Bronze), Pan American Championship 2010 (Silver) and 2009 (Bronze); New York Open 2009 (Bronze); Grappler’s Quest 2009 (Silver) and 2d American Cup 2009 (Gold); U.S. Open, 2008 (Bronze), Texas Gracie Open 2008 (Gold). She occasionally volunteers as a referee at various grappling/submission tournaments. In 2008-2009, Ms. Freeze’s was featured in the Gracie Magazine on several occasions.
We are associated with
Law Offices of Kelly Y. Chen www.kellychenlaw.com
KELLY Y. CHEN
Education
J.D. University of California, Hastings
M.A. University of California, Santa Barbara
B.A. University of California, Irvine
Bar Admissions
California
Membership/Professional Associations
American Bar Association
California Employment Lawyers Association (CELA)
Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC)
Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA)
National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA)
Los Angeles County Bar Association (LACBA)
Experience
Law Offices of Eric Castelblanco
Ms. Chen graduated from University of California Hastings College of the Law. While in law school, Ms. Chen was a member of Hastings Civil Justice Clinic. She earned the Witkin Award for Academic Excellence and the CALI Excellence for the Future Award for her work at Civil Justice Clinic (Individual Representation). She was a recipient of California Employment Lawyers Association’s (CELA’s) Diversity Scholarship. In addition to a law degree, Ms. Chen has a M.A. degree in Psychology from University of California at Santa Barbara where she was a Ph.D. candidate. Prior to attending graduate school, Ms. Chen received a B.A. degree in Psychology from University of California at Irvine with honors and she was an esteemed recipient of the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) Fellowship.
Ms. Chen currently works as an Of Counsel at the Law Offices of Eric E. Castelblanco, a public interest firm that serves primarily the underserved Latino community. Before her admission to the California Bar, she worked as a law clerk at the firm. During the first two years of law school, Ms. Chen worked in-house for an insurance company headquartered in San Francisco handling transactional and compliance matters.
Ms. Chen is passionate about representing the traditionally underserved populations, including: low-wage workers, immigrant employees, and the LGBT workforce. She is fluent in Mandarin and Taiwanese.