Atlanta, Beijing, Brussels, Chicago, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Houston, London Los Angeles, Milan, New York, Orange

County, Palo Alto, Paris San Diego, San Francisco, Seoul, Shanghai, Tokyo, Washington DC

Elena R. Baca
Partner, Employment Law Department elenabaca@paulhastings.com Elena Baca is chair of Paul Hastings Los Angeles office and a partner in the Employment Law practice. An experienced trial lawyer, Ms. Baca has established an impressive record of defense verdicts and arbitration wins representing a wide variety of corporate clients. Her litigation practice includes a primary focus on employment related issues, such as wage and hour, employee mobility, and whistleblower issues. Her clients include financial institutions, major manufacturers, medical technology companies, and leading consumer brands. Ms. Baca is consistently ranked in Chambers USA which quotes clients who characterize her as "creative, efficient, and always a pleasure to work with."

Los Angeles
T: 1(213) 683-6306 F: 1(213) 996-3306

Practice Areas
Employment Litigation Employment Counseling and Preventive Advice Employment Law

Recent Representations UPS - Represented UPS in more than 54 individual cases stemming from a successfully decertified class action alleging misclassification and meal and rest break violations. During an eight-year battle with a potential liability in the 8-9 figure range, oversaw all individual cases which resulted in 16 wins, 38 walk-aways, and defense attorney fees in 5 of the cases. Lockheed Martin - Represented Lockheed Martin in a disability discrimination and wrongful termination matter. After the jury returned a defense verdict in less than 20 minutes, plaintiffs appealed. The higher court affirmed, but for the claims the trial court had dismissed without sending them to the jury, which went back to the jury. Plaintiff retained new counsel and the case was tried anew with changed theories from opposing counsel. Again, the jury returned a defense verdict within minutes. AIG - Secured a favorable class settlement of a putative class action alleging misclassification and seeking tens of millions of dollars. Then successfully defended an appeal of the settlement brought by objectors from the class. Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company - Represented both co-defendants in a putative class action alleging misclassification of financial advisors. Rather than await the plaintiffs class-certification motion, Ms. Baca elected the novel strategy of bringing a preemptive motion to deny class certification. The trial

Admissions
California Bar

Languages
Spanish

Education
University of Notre Dame Law School, J.D., 1992 Arizona State University, B.S., 1988

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court acquiesced, thus allowing defendants to avoid the continued expense of class-wide litigation. Accolades and Recognitions Recognized by Chambers USA and Legal 500 as one of the top-ranked employment defense lawyers in California Repeatedly named by the Los Angeles Daily Journal as one of Californias Top 75 Women Litigators and one of Californias Top Labor and Employment Attorneys Included in The American Lawyers 2011 list of the Top 45 Woman Under 45 Repeatedly selected as one of the Best Lawyers in America Martindale-Hubble Peer Review Rated A/V Professional and Community Involvement Board Member, Human Rights Campaign Ex-officio Lawyer Representative for the United States District Court, Central District of California Former Member of the Magistrate Judge Merit Selection Panel for the United States District Court, Central District of California Former Board Member, Children Affected by AIDS Foundation Board Former Board Member, Hispanic American Bar Foundation Education Ms. Baca received her B.S. degree in Justice Studies with a minor in General Business from Arizona State University. She received her J.D. degree from the University of Notre Dame School of Law, where she was vice president of the Hispanic American Law Students Association, an officer of the Sports and Entertainment Association, and a research assistant and editor for two publications, The Attorney General's Lawyer and The Complex Civil Litigation Manual and Textbook.

News
August 06, 2013 Paul Hastings Defeats Misclassification and PAGA Claims Regarding AIG Workers Compensation Hearing Representatives June 05, 2013

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Paul Hastings Extensive Practice Strength Highlighted in The Legal 500 United States 2013 May 27, 2013 Paul Hastings Employment Practice Honored with Chambers Award for Excellence and Firms Leading Practices and Lawyers Ranked in Chambers USA 2013 June 07, 2012 Paul Hastings Excels in Chambers USA 2012 Guide June 10, 2011 Paul Hastings Excels in Chambers USA 2011 Guide June 01, 2011 Paul Hastings Soars in 2011 Edition of Legal 500 US August 16, 2010 Best Lawyers Names 91 Lawyers to 2011 Edition of Rankings June 14, 2010 Paul Hastings Garners Top Rankings in Chambers USA 2010 Guide June 07, 2010 Paul Hastings Excels in 2010 Edition of Legal 500 US January 06, 2010 Paul Hastings Selected as The American Lawyers Labor & Employment Litigation Firm of the Year June 17, 2008 Paul Hastings Attorneys Recognized as Super Lawyers and Rising Stars in Northern California, Southern California, Georgia, Illinois, New York and Washington, D.C. May 22, 2007 Paul Hastings Attorneys Named Top Women Litigators by Daily Journal

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Paul Hastings Attorneys Recognized as Super Lawyers in Southern California, Connecticut, Georgia, New York, San Diego and Washington, D.C.

Publications
February 15, 2012 Top Verdicts of 2011: Marlo v. United Parcel Service and Related Cases

August 30, 2006 "Cutting-Edge Labor and Employment Practitioners." Diversity & The Bar. By Lloyd M. Johnson, Jr. January/February 2006

Rankings & Awards

June 07, 2012 Chambers USA 2012 111 lawyers and 40 practices were included in Chambers USA's 2012 list of leading lawyers and law firms in the United States. July 13, 2011 Daily Journal Top Labor & Employment Lawyers 2011 Six Paul Hastings lawyers were named to the Daily Journals annual list of Top Labor & Employment lawyers: George Abele, Nancy Abell, Elena Baca, Paul Cane, Donna Melby, and Kirby Wilcox. Of the 250 lawyers from various firms considered, 75 were selected for this distinction, which focuses on litigators and corporate and regulatory specialists on both the plaintiff and defense side of major labor and employment issues. January 02, 2013 Law360 Awards Paul Hastings' Employment Law practice was recognized as one of Law360s "Top Practice Groups of The Year." January 01, 2011

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The American Lawyer Elena Baca's extensive representation of UPS in various wage-and-hour cases earned her a position on The American Lawyer's 2011 list of Top 45 Women Under 45. July 14, 2010 The Daily Journal The Daily Journal named Nancy Abell, Elena Baca, Paul Cane, Jr., Donna Melby and Kirby Wilcox to their 2010 list of Top Employment Lawyers. Paul Hastings secured the most lawyers on the Top Employment Lawyers list than any other firm. May 11, 2011 The Daily Journal Los Angeles partners Nancy Abell, Elena Baca and Donna Melby were recognized by The Daily Journal as Top Women Lawyers of 2011 in California. July 18, 2012 The Daily Journal, Top Labor & Employment Lawyers 2012 Los Angeles partner Nancy Abell, Los Angeles partner Elena Baca, Orange County partner Stephen Berry, San Francisco partner Paul Cane, Palo Alto partner Bradford Newman and San Francisco partner Kirby Wilcox, were listed in The Daily Journals list of Top Labor & Employment Lawyers. May 09, 2012 The Daily Journal, Top Women Lawyers Partners Nancy Abell, Elena Baca, Holly House, Donna Melby, and Teri OBrien were named to The Daily Journal's Top Women Lawyers list for 2012.