Mark S. Posard is a partner in the San Francisco and Sacramento offices of Gordon & Rees since 2003. He has a diverse commercial litigation and trial practice which focuses on employment, cyber liability, representation of Directors and Officers and sub-specialties defending common interest developments (i.e., Homeowner Associations).  He has won numerous jury trials and binding arbitrations, in addition to resolving many cases through mediation. Mr. Posard has significant experience representing businesses and management in virtually every area of employment law, including discrimination, workplace harassment, ADA/disability claims (including online access issues), compensation, unfair competition, trade secret violations, unfair labor practices, OSHA, and wage and hour class actions. Mr. Posard also routinely assists management with workplace investigations and preventative business and employment counseling.

Mr. Posard represents clients nationwide, and has experience in other fields including transportation, cargo, tort and product liability, intellectual property, residential and commercial real estate matters, business litigation and many other areas of civil litigation. Representative clients of Mr. Posard include EPL, D&O, PL, Cyber and Casualty insurers, large and small hospitality and transportation companies, national development companies and many California education institutions (from preschool through post-grad).

Mr. Posard has an array of personal interests. Among them is his passion for world travel. This year Mr. Posard and family will be experiencing their first Disney cruise.

Representative Experience

Recent examples of Mr. Posard’s experience include the following:

• Won summary judgment in Los Angeles County Superior Court on behalf of trucking company Dependable Highway Express (DHE), in an employment case with 13 causes of action.
   
• Defense verdict in December 2013 in a whistleblower termination/discrimination case in which the plaintiff sought $1.8 million+ in damages.

• Won a binding arbitration. After a three-hour cross examination of the claimant, the following day the claimant abandoned his claims.

• Won summary judgment in the high-profile Dariano v. Morgan Hill Unified School District matter.

• Defense judgment on behalf of large employer in Napa Valley on 7 of 8 claims (including harassment, discrimination and retaliation). Plaintiff prevailed partially on overtime claim at trial, but verdict was less than 4% of pretrial demand.

• Defense verdict on behalf of the University of California after month-long trial involving 17-year employee who brought 23 causes of action against the University and several high-ranking managers.

• Counseling three separate companies on the separation from employment of high level corporate executives including officers, directors and shareholders.

• Winning summary judgment against a high profile civil rights attorney on behalf of a renowned California university.

• Negotiating a favorable settlement against two local District Attorneys in an "unfair competition" case where hundreds of millions of dollars were at stake.

• Co-chairing a two month trial in Honolulu, Hawaii on behalf of an international hospitality chain.

Presentations

Mr. Posard has participated in many speaking engagements and this year has presented seminars on responding to allegations of sexual or racial harassment, avoiding claims of workplace harassment, and how to conduct an effective workplace investigation.  Mr. Posard has presented for organizations such as the Northern California Human Resources Association, Risk & Insurance Management Society, Women For WineSense and HR Options. He also regularly conducts training seminars in all areas of labor and employment law for his clients.

In The Media

Mr. Posard is adept at representing clients whose issues attract media attention. Mr. Posard is currently lead counsel on a half dozen matters that have received media attention, including from national media outlets.