Doug Dexter is the immediate past chair of the American Bar Association Labor and Employment Law Section, a fellow in the American College of Labor & Employment Lawyers, and a former president of the Northern California Human Resources Association. Doug also served more than 15 years as chair of Farella's Employment Practice. These roles, coupled with four decades of practicing California employment law, have informed Doug about the status and trends of that law, as well as the value of listening to client priorities, collaborating with a diverse team of legal professionals, and communicating positions toward resolution of employment-related disputes.

Doug specializes in advising and representing large employers, particularly in the technology industry. He helps these clients reach decisions of first impression that will support client goals over time and application to employee populations, consistent with the client’s workplace ethos and brand. These decisional contexts range from drafting policies to resolving individual employee circumstances.

In litigation, Doug communicates with clients, lawyers, and courts to reconcile facts, law, and party priorities toward resolution – whether through negotiation, summary judgment, or trial. A lifetime early adopter, Doug strives to leverage technology for more efficient and material evidentiary analysis.

The subjects of Doug’s experience, advice, and litigation span the unique dictates of California employment law, including wage and hour, accommodation, discrimination, workplace privacy, collective action, competition, trade secrets, contingent workforces, and agreements to commence, compensate, and sever employment. Doug consistently litigates individual, class and PAGA actions. Raised in San Francisco, educated in San Diego, and initially officed in Los Angeles, Doug has spent his career resolving employment disputes in venues across California.

As a professional leader, Doug has benefited from mentoring and working with diverse talented teams of attorneys, both within and outside of Farella. Doug recognizes that supporting legal profession diversity, as well as independent thought among newer lawyers, enhances legal analysis and client service — and creates a more competent and admirable profession.