Los Angeles – Global law firm K&L Gates LLP has added Eugene C. Ryu as a partner in the labor, employment, and workplace safety practice. Ryu will lead the firm’s California labor and employment practice. He joins K&L Gates’ Los Angeles office from Littler Mendelson P.C., where he served on the firm’s board of directors.

Ryu focuses on labor and employment matters, including California Wage & Hour Class Actions and PAGA representative actions, disability-related issues, discrimination and harassment, family and medical leave, and workplace safety, health, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) matters. He represents employers including global and national companies, emerging growth companies, start-ups, and entrepreneurs in numerous industries in state, federal, and administrative courts, and also represents United States subsidiaries of multinational Korean parent companies and has clients based in Europe and Mexico.

Rosemary Alito, a Newark partner and a leader of K&L Gates’ global labor and employment practice, commented: “Gene is a recognized leader in the labor and employment arena who brings extraordinary experience and capabilities to our labor, employment and workplace safety practice. We are pleased to have him join our group and enhance our client service in California and across our global platform.”

Ryu is the latest of nearly a dozen California-based lawyers to join K&L Gates in the past 12 months, including litigation partners Helen Kim and Mitch Kim in Los Angeles; intellectual property partner Mincheol Kim, real estate partner William Tate, and commercial litigation partners J. David Bournazian and Jonathan Hersey in Orange County; and intellectual property partner Tom Anderton, corporate partner Ali Nardali, and asset management of counsel David Owen in San Francisco. They are among more than 30 partners who joined the firm in 2020.

“Gene’s arrival will further enhance our capabilities in Los Angeles and across California,” said Timothy Pierce, managing partner of K&L Gates’ Los Angeles office. “We’re delighted to welcome him to the firm.”

Ryu was named to Lawyers of Color’s Power List 2020, as well as the Most Influential Minority Lawyers by the Los Angeles Business Journal in 2019. Additionally, Ryu has served on the board of directors for the Korean American Bar Association of Northern California (KABANC), where he was named as “Alumnus of the Year” in 2017; on the board of advisors for the US-Korea Law Foundation; on the board of governors of the Korean American Bar Association of Southern California; and as a member of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA).

Pallavi Mehta Wahi, K&L Gates’ co-managing partner, United States, and chair of the firm’s global Diversity Committee, commented: “We’re excited to welcome Gene to the firm. He is a renowned advocate in advancing diversity and inclusion in the legal profession and his dedication to this area furthers our commitment in creating an environment where diversity and inclusion is part of the fabric of our firm.”
 
Lawyers in K&L Gates’ labor, employment and workplace safety practice and Global Employer Solutions area advise domestic and international clients in the technology, pharmaceuticals, retail, banking, manufacturing, hospitality, transportation, broadcasting, construction, mining, energy, financial services, and health care industries, among others, on a variety of regional and cross-border labor and employment issues. With more than 200 lawyers, K&L Gates’ Global Employer Solutions team counsels corporations and entities across numerous countries and jurisdictions in meeting the challenges of their global business needs.