BREAKFAST WITH A FRIEND

I had breakfast with a new friend today.  Well, actually a whole lot of us had breakfast… with an employment law expert Karen L. Gabler of Camarillo based, Light Gabler LLP.  Unfortunately, at least for the rank and file, the presentation was titled “We’re Just Not That Into You… Effective Handling of Employee Terminations.”  

In today’s labor climate, effective handling of employee terminations is a topic that really draws a crowd.  The place was packed.  There were barely enough chairs, even though it was a 7:30 am start. 

As a professional investigator who’s been in the business for over ten years, I’ve worked plenty of major cases, and I’ve been on the witness stand for both direct testimony and cross examination by some darn good attorneys.  There are very few of them I’m afraid of.

Karen Gabler’s an attorney who’s just about the last person I’d ever want to go up against in a court of law.  Not only does she know her stuff, she's the kind of attorney who knows how to pull the chair out from under your argument and leave you stunned, sitting there on the ground in front of the jury with a smile on your face, wondering what just happened to you.  Then, with a smile on her own face, she zings your argument a second time with an only slightly sarcastic remark, precisely timed to make the moment stick in the minds of the jury.

Karen took us through a morning that was less PowerPoint, and more interactive, focused discussion.  Our own company does pre-employment screening, employee background investigations, and threat management cases, and it’s easy to see how things an employer missed on the front end of a worker’s hire can come back to bite them later.   Karen brought lots of good information to the table, and I’ll definitely plan on going to more Light Gabler LLP presentations.

Not sure what it portends for society and the California economy, but Karen sure seemed to have hit on a hot topic with “Fifty Ways to Leave Your Employee.”