Overview
Carina Novell helps companies navigate complex California employment laws and defends both single-plaintiff and complex class action lawsuits.
Areas of Practice
Carina focuses her practice on labor and employment law matters, as well as advising and representing management clients. Carina handles various types of employment litigation, including wage and hour class actions, discrimination, wrongful termination, retaliation, and harassment lawsuits.
She works regularly with companies in the food and beverage industry. She also assists companies in the Healthcare and Retail space.
Carina serves as a mentor for the University of San Diego Women’s Law Caucus and is actively involved in the firm’s Women Lawyers Group.
Experience
Experience
Wage and Hour
- Defends complex class actions, identifying creative solutions to fend off inappropriate class petitions
- Defends Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) lawsuits, analyzing the best possible strategies for each situation
- Obtaining stays on later-file copy-cat class and Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) actions
Single Plaintiff Discrimination Claims
- Obtains dismissals of actions on motions for summary judgment
- Taking and defending depositions
- Enforcing arbitration agreements
Advice and Counseling
- Advises management on wage-and-hour issues and the discipline and termination processes
- Reviews and prepares employee handbooks and other employment-related document
- Conducts comprehensive audits to identify potential violations
Insights
Articles
Construction & Infrastructure Law Blog Posts
- "Turning Back the Clock: DOL Proposes Previous Davis-Bacon Prevailing Wage Definition," April 6, 2022
Labor & Employment Law Blog Posts
- "Ninth Circuit Applies Adolph, Vacating Lower Court’s Dismissal of Employee’s Nonindividual PAGA Claims," March 8, 2024
- "Looking Ahead: New California Employment Laws for 2024," December 20, 2023
- "What Employers Need to Know about the White House’s Executive Order on AI," November 17, 2023
- "July 1, 2023 Minimum Wage Increases in California Counties and Municipalities," June 13, 2023
- "Time Is Not Always Money: Ninth Circuit Holds That Pre-Employment Drug Testing Is Not Compensable Under California Law," June 29, 2022
Retail Law: Retail Trend Spotter
- "The Push for Pay Transparency: New Laws in 2023," February 13, 2023
- "Non-Compete No More? FTC Proposes Broad Ban of Non-Compete Agreements," February 10, 2023
Practices
Industries
Education
J.D., University of California, Davis, 2019
B.S./B.A., Saint Mary's College of California, 2016, summa cum laude
Clerkships
- Judicial extern for the Hon. Russell L. Hom, Sacramento Superior Court
Admissions
- California