Douglas N. Silverstein
Doug is an employment attorney and worked at all the big defense firms before he saw the light and founded Kesluk, Silverstein, Jacob & Morrison. Many of his best results are handled behind closed doors, but when forced to prosecute his clients’ claims, Doug has won 20 of his last 22 trials, and recovered punitive damages is his last 6 trials. He’s been appointed lead class counsel in dozens of wage and hour class and PAGA actions and has impacted the rights of hundreds of thousands of employees. He has argued cases in the California Courts of Appeal, Second, Ninth and D.C. federal Circuits, and has numerous published opinions establishing law on issues of first impression, including the first California case recognizing FEHA associational discrimination. For nine years, Doug has been honored as one of the top labor and employment attorneys in California by The Daily Journal. He was awarded a 2026 California Lawyer Attorneys of the Year (CLAY) Award, which is a prestigious annual honor presented by The Daily Journal to recognize attorneys behind the state's most impactful and groundbreaking legal cases. Doug has been recognized by his fellow attorneys, the national news media, and the general public as an employment law expert, and regularly writes and lectures on labor issues. Doug served as the 2022 CAALA President, is a CAOC Board Member, a Past Chair of the Los Angeles County Bar Association (LACBA) Litigation Section, currently serves as the LACBA President Elect, and will serve as LACBA’s President in 2027. He serves on the California Civility Task Force, a joint project of the California Judges Association and the California Lawyers Association, that has made numerous accepted recommendations to the California Supreme Court to improve civility in the practice of law. Through his trial practice, Doug has attained the rank of Associate in ABOTA and is a past Chair of the CAALA Las Vegas Convention. Through his class action practice, Doug’s firm has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to pro bono legal aid organizations. Prior to becoming an attorney, Doug worked as a late night DJ and a sommelier. He coached his kids to the California state soccer championship, until they realized they could go further without him and became hockey players.