Albert Giang

Class Action & Trial Matters

• Employment/Worker Classification: Lead defense counsel for an international insurance company in multiple class, collective, and representative actions in federal and state courts throughout the United States—which allege that insurance sales agents were misclassified and were not paid for training—including prevailing against nationwide Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) collective actions in Pennsylvania and Arkansas federal courts.
• Lead defense counsel in COVID class action against a gig economy client accused of “public nuisance” and failure to provide PPE to couriers during COVID in violation of California wage-and-hour laws—compelling arbitration by successfully arguing that couriers were engaged in local transactions (and not interstate workers) and did not qualify for “public injunctive relief” simply by invoking public health.
• Lead defense counsel for several clients in governmental/regulatory investigations and audits alleging independent contractor misclassification in ABC states such as California and Massachusetts.
• Lead defense counsel in obtaining N.D. Cal. approval of a California-wide class settlement with insurance trainees and sales agents, which was achieved in part due to counsel’s strategic invocation of a little-known exemption from AB5 and aggressive class waiver arguments.
• Marketing/TCPA: Lead strategy counsel in obtaining complete dismissal with prejudice of a nationwide “robotexting” class action in N.D. Cal., successfully arguing that the plaintiff failed to establish that a tech platform “controlled the manner and means” of the alleged marketers who sent the texts. This widely-reported decision was recognized as one of the Top California Verdicts of 2020 because of its important implications for vicarious liability under the TCPA.
• Lead counsel in two nationwide class actions under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) alleging that a cannabis platform sent improper text messages, obtaining dismissal of one action and successfully defending the enforceability of cannabis contracts and arbitration provisions under federal law.
• Lead counsel for several technology companies in successfully resolving various nationwide TCPA class actions on an individual basis.
• Consumer Protection/Unfair Competition: Lead defense counsel for a homesharing technology, obtaining early dismissal with prejudice of the first class action brought by property owners alleging improper service fees and violations of rent control laws under California’s Unfair Competition Law, followed by a complete affirmance in the California Court of Appeal.
• Lead counsel for a ridesharing technology, successfully compelling arbitration of damages claims in a statewide class action challenging certain service fees.
• Lead counsel for a ridesharing technology—and the first counsel to successfully enforce the company’s online arbitration agreement—in obtaining dismissal of a nationwide class action alleging misrepresentations and breach of contract from a promotional campaign.
• Lead counsel for a cannabis platform in a high-profile business dispute where a Canadian competitor alleged unfair competition relating to credit card processing, raising novel issues about the legality of cannabis transactions under federal law.
• Lead counsel in regulatory trial and appeal on behalf of a disruptive sightseeing startup, which was granted a license despite suit by a competitor alleging violations of California Public Utilities Commission rules and regulations.
• Tech Investigations/Regulatory Enforcements: Numerous governmental investigations and enforcement actions (e.g., Attorney General, District Attorney, City Attorney) against technology clients on a variety of regulatory/compliance issues, including California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and privacy violations; safety representations; background checks; auto-renewal and pricing practices; electric scooters and electric bicycles; employment classification; and municipal fines.

Appeals

• Co-lead appellate counsel in the Texas Court of Appeal, obtaining reversal of the trial court’s finding of specific personal jurisdiction over a California-based fashion influencer platform accused of data scraping and intellectual property violations by a rival platform.
• Counsel of record in the United States Supreme Court on behalf of “on-demand” tech companies, filing an amicus curiae brief that argued that an overbroad definition of “automatic telephone dialing system” under the TCPA would harm technology companies and stymie innovation.
• Lead appellate counsel in the Ninth Circuit, successfully arguing that a victim of brutal domestic violence by a police officer in Mexico had been subject to torture under the international Convention Against Torture, which should not be excused under a “romantic partner” exception, in a favorable 3-0 panel decision.
• Counsel of record representing more than 140 Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) organizations in filing an amicus curiae brief defending the use of affirmative action to advance educational diversity in the United States Supreme Court case of Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin (Fisher II), where the majority agreed that the university’s admissions policy did not harm AAPI students.
• Appellate counsel for a nationwide health club, successfully persuading the California Court of Appeal to dismiss a certified class action and to affirm that the plaintiffs had failed to prove class-wide consumer confusion under California's Unfair Competition Law.
• Appellate counsel representing the California Retailers Association and several of the world’s largest retailers as amicus curiae, advocating for the enforceability of co-tenancy clauses in commercial real estate leases in the California Court of Appeal.
• Appellate counsel in an important and published Ninth Circuit decision securing a new trial for an inmate who had received ineffective assistance of counsel during the plea negotiation process, and successfully defended against the State of California’s petition for certiorari in the United States Supreme Court.
• Appellate counsel representing Equality California throughout the closely watched litigation over California’s ban on same-sex marriage, arguing that the ban’s proponents lacked standing in federal court. Not only was this briefing specifically cited in the Ninth Circuit’s order certifying the question of standing to the California Supreme Court (Perry v. Schwarzenegger), Albert coauthored an amicus curiae brief on the standing argument that ultimately prevailed in the United States Supreme Court (Hollingsworth v. Perry).
• Appellate counsel in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, successfully arguing for relief under the Convention Against Torture to prevent the deportation of a transgender woman who had been brutally raped and beaten by local police in Mexico, resulting in her release after more than four years in detention.
• Appellate counsel in the California Court of Appeal, the California Supreme Court, and the United States Supreme Court, successfully defending summary judgment on behalf of an entertainment client in an employment action brought by a former radio manager.

Albert Giang’s cutting-edge practice focuses on defending tech startups and public companies against class actions, regulatory investigation and enforcement, and other litigation, and providing crisis management for disrupters who are navigating novel legal and regulatory issues. A thought leader in the tech industry, his clients include some of the most respected companies in the gig economy, e-commerce, telemedicine, and social networking/media space. According to the Los Angeles Business Journal, Albert “has built an impressive track record for passionate advocacy on some of the most pressing legal issues – a pillar of influence in the technology, appellate and pro bono fields.”

Albert offers an unmatched blend of consumer, employment, and tech expertise—e.g., he led the successful defense of the first COVID class action against a gig economy company accused of failing to provide PPE to independent contractors, while also obtaining one of the Top California Verdicts of 2020 that dismissed with prejudice a nationwide TCPA class action alleging robotexting. In addition to defending clients as outside litigation counsel, Albert has been asked to serve two stints in-house at a leading technology company and provides strategic counseling on novel product rollouts and regulatory issues, commercial disputes, and complex consumer and employment disputes. Albert serves as “go to” counsel for his clients on issues such as platform liability; employment and worker classification; tech investigations and regulatory enforcement (e.g., by City Attorneys, District Attorneys, or Attorneys General); marketing and advertising law (e.g., TCPA); consumer protection and unfair competition laws (e.g., UCL, CCPA); the Communications Decency Act (CDA); Terms of Service (TOS) drafting and enforcement; and mass arbitration strategy.

Albert also specializes in appellate litigation, having represented clients in numerous cases in the United States Supreme Court, the United States Courts of Appeal, and California appellate courts. Albert has been recognized as one of the Minority Leaders of Influence of 2021 by the Los Angeles Business Journal, one of the Best Under 40 by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, a Rising Star in the appellate field by Super Lawyers and Los Angeles magazines, and one of the 500 Leading U.S. Corporate Employment Lawyers by Lawdragon.

Recent Speaking Engagements:

• Presenter, “Marketing Gone Wild:  Litigation and Regulatory Trends,” 2020 Marketplace Risk & Global Summit
• Program Chair and Presenter, “Through a Judge’s Eyes:  How Courts View Your Terms of Service,” 2019 All Hands Conference
• Program Chair and Presenter, “When the Government Calls—From Responding to Regulatory Fines to Articulating Your Policy Vision,” 2019 Marketplace Risk Management Conference
• Program Chair and Presenter, “The Future of Marketplace Defenses: Updates and Trends in Platform Protection and Litigation,” 2018 Marketplace Risk Management Conference
• Program Chair and Speaker, “A Turning Point: How the National Conversation about Diversity and Inclusion is Hitting Tech,” 2018 Minority Corporate Counsel Association G-TEC Conference, Plenary Session
• Speaker, “Ethical Issues for In-House & Outside Counsel,” 2017 CMCP – Kaiser Permanente CLE Marathon
• Speaker, “An Ounce of Prevention—Best Practices When Planning for and Facing Litigation,” 2017 Marketplace Risk Management Conference
• Program Chair and Speaker, “The Sharing Economy: Disrupting the Business and Legal Landscape,” 2016 National Asian Pacific American Bar Association Annual Convention
• Speaker, “A Panel Discussion on Fisher v. University of Texas,” 2013 Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Los Angeles