Kayvan Iradjpanah

kiradjpanah@littler.com
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Kayvan Iradjpanah advises, represents and trains employers in various areas of employment law, including:

  • Multi-jurisdictional employment law compliance
  • Independent contractor analysis
  • Class action/PAGA litigation prevention and defense
  • Wage and hour disputes, compliance, and audits
  • Wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, and retaliation complaints/investigations
  • Employee handbooks and personnel policies

As co-chair of Littler’s Emerging Companies and Venture Capital Industry Group, Kayvan advises dozens of  emerging growth technology companies at all stages of growth, ranging from pre-seed to late stage to IPO. Additionally, Kayvan serves as outside counsel to numerous venture capital firms on their own employment law compliance needs. Many VCs, private equity firms, accelerators, incubators, and angel investors rely on Kayvan and his team to strategically partner with their portfolio companies to build practical and business-minded compliance frameworks to position them for rapid scaling and growth.

Kayvan advises on day-to-day HR decisions, drafts employment agreements, leads manager trainings, counsels on workplace investigations, and prepares personnel policies. He advises many companies in the “gig economy” on their independent contractor models and is one of the founding architects of Littler X-celerator, the firm’s onboarding tool for tech startups.

More generally, from his dual practice in Southern and Northern California, Kayvan also serves as primary outside employment counsel for many global and national employers, providing integrated multi-jurisdictional employment law advice. In addition to technology startups and VC firms, Kayvan’s clients include employers in the AI, robotics, consulting, financial services, health care, publishing, retail, hospitality, entertainment, education, staffing, and logistics industries, as well as foreign sovereign employers like embassies and consulates.

Kayvan’s litigation practice primarily focuses on defense of wage and hour claims, contractual disputes, wrongful termination/harassment/retaliation lawsuits, class actions, and representative actions under the California Private Attorneys General Act. He has successfully opposed motions for class certification, obtained favorable outcomes in arbitrations and prevailed on dispositive motions. Kayvan appears in state, federal and appellate courts, as well as before arbitrators and administrative agencies like the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.

Kayvan has dedicated his entire legal career to employment law. Prior to joining Littler, Kayvan served as a judicial extern to the Hon. Steven B. Berlin in the Office of Administrative Law Judges at the Department of Labor. He also worked at the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission, both in its legal department and with the Hon. Daniel E. Leach in its division of administrative judges. In addition to counseling at the Legal Aid Society–Employment Law Center in San Francisco, Kayvan was also on the board of the Employment and Labor Law Student Association in law school.

Credentials & Recognition

Speaking Engagements

The Top Employment Law Issues at Every Stage of the Employment Relationship

  • August 19, 2021
  • Susa Ventures

Employment Law Consideration for Early Stage Companies

  • August 18, 2021
  • Techstars LA, Los Angeles, CA

Employment Law Issues Impacting Los Angeles Based Startups

  • July 26, 2021
  • Techstars LA

Emerging Technologies and Venture Capital Roundtable: Returning to Work in Tech

  • June 16, 2021

Top Employment Law Issues Impact the Aerospace Tech Ecosystem

  • July 20, 2020
  • Techstars Starburst Space Accelerator

Employment Law and Tech Startups

  • September 23, 2019
  • Techstars Los Angeles Accelerator, Los Angeles, CA

Top Employment Law Issues Impacting the Tech Ecosystem

  • August 20, 2019
  • Techstars Starburst Space Accelerator

Navigating the Employment Law Puzzle

  • August 15, 2018
  • California New Car Dealers Association

Top Employment Law Issues Facing Health Tech Startups

  • November 1, 2017
  • Techstars Healthcare Accelerator in partnership with Cedars-Sinai

Independent Contractors or Employees? A Primer for Startups

  • October 18, 2017
  • Los Angeles Venture Association, Ninth Annual Investor Night

Employment Law and Tech: Key Issues

  • April 12, 2017
  • Plug and Play Tech Center, Sunnyvale, CA

The Employer’s Primer on Record Retention

  • February 15, 2017
  • East Ventura County Employer Advisory Council

Health Tech and Employment Law

  • February 14, 2017
  • Techstars Healthcare Accelerator in partnership with Cedars-Sinai

Building a Compliant Employment Law Framework

  • February 6, 2017
  • Powerhouse Solar, Oakland, CA

Top Employment Law Issues Affecting Startups Nationwide

  • November 17, 2016
  • Early Growth Financial Services, Los Angeles, CA

Fireside Chat with Narges Bani Asadi, CEO of Bina Technologies

  • November 5, 2016
  • Persian Tech Entrepreneurs Annual Conference

Employment Law Issues Impacting Solar Startups

  • October 5, 2016
  • Powerhouse Solar, Oakland, CA

Intersection of Workers’ Compensation and Other Employment Laws

  • September 22, 2016
  • BB&T Insurance Services

Navigating the Employment Law Puzzle

  • June 7, 2016
  • California New Car Dealers Association

Employment Law Issues Facing Health Tech Startups

  • May 2, 2016
  • Techstars Healthcare Accelerator, in partnership with Cedars-Sinai

The Top Employment Law Issues Impacting Technology Startups

  • April 1, 2016
  • UCLA Office of Intellectual Property

Littler X-celerator and Employment Issues Impacting Clean Tech Startups

  • January 20, 2016
  • Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator

Additional Thought Leadership

Employment Law Manual (1st Edition)

  • June 7, 2016
  • California New Car Dealers Association

Let us know how we can help you navigate your particular workplace legal issues.