Todd Smith

Todd Smith dedicates his practice to serving as mediator in litigated and non-litigated matters with an emphasis on employment disputes including claims of discrimination, sexual harassment, wrongful termination, whistleblower and retaliation, as well as wage and hour class actions and PAGA actions.

Smith began practicing law as an associate in the employment law department of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker. Later he formed the legal partnership of Helmer • Smith, which represented individual and business clients in various civil rights, intellectual property, personal injury and business matters with a particular focus on litigating employment disputes. He has experience litigating in both state and federal court, and has resolved scores of cases via trial, arbitration and mediation, including a $1.9 million judgment in an age discrimination suit upheld by the California Supreme Court.

Smith is a proud distinguished fellow of the International Academy of Mediators. He has received mediation training on both coasts — including Pepperdine’s Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution on the West and Linda Singer and Michael Lewis on the East. He served as co-chair of both the San Fernando Valley Bar Association ADR Section and Beverly Hills Bar Association Labor and Employment Law Section.

In addition to his mediation practice, Smith has spent more than a decade teaching employment law in the Los Angeles area as an adjunct professor. Smith has taught at both UCLA Law School and Southwestern Law School where in 2010, he proudly received the Excellence in Teaching Award from the Student Bar Association. He is a passionate supporter of mediation as a dispute resolution technique and frequently serves as a guest speaker regarding employment mediation at various law school, bar association and other trade organization events. 

FACULTY IN THE NEWS

Fox News Los Angeles affiliate KTTV-TV
January 16, 2019
Re: Camille Gear Rich

Camille Gear Rich was interviewed about the university's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Week. "Everyone has some issue of difference that they're negotiating," said Gear Rich. "if we can use those things as a bridge to start having these broader conversations, then everyone feels included and feels like they have something to offer."

RECENT SCHOLARSHIP

Dorothy S. Lund
November, 2018

"Sexual Harassment and Corporate Law", Berkeley Sustainable Business and Investment Forum Academic Roundtable, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA.

Daniel Klerman
November, 2018

“Contingent Fees and Access to Justice,” Faculty Colloquium, Notre Dame Law School, Notre Dame, IN.

Daniel Klerman
November, 2018

"Contingent Fees and Access to Justice" (with Eric Helland), Civil Procedure Workshop, Stanford Law School, Palo Alto, CA.