People
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:
J.D., Stanford Law School, Distinction
B.A., Amherst College, Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa
California
Supreme Court of the United States
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
Law Clerk, Hon. Richard A. Paez, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Advisory Board, Marketplace Risk
Board Member, Executive Advisory Council, Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles
Co-Chair, Amicus Committee, National Asian Pacific American Bar Association
Mandarin Chinese
March 31, 2023
Albert Giang, Geoff Drake, David Mattern and TaCara Harris represent TikTok and ByteDance in a wrongful death dispute
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.
See more
February 22, 2022
"Gig" Economy - Emerging Themes and Global Perspectives
January 19, 2022
Arbitration and PAGA Representative Actions: Supreme Court to Weigh In
March 31, 2023
Albert Giang, Geoff Drake, David Mattern and TaCara Harris represent TikTok and ByteDance in a wrongful death dispute
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.
See more
February 22, 2022
"Gig" Economy - Emerging Themes and Global Perspectives
January 19, 2022
Arbitration and PAGA Representative Actions: Supreme Court to Weigh In
March 31, 2023
Albert Giang, Geoff Drake, David Mattern and TaCara Harris represent TikTok and ByteDance in a wrongful death dispute
J.D., Stanford Law School, Distinction
B.A., Amherst College, Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa
California
Supreme Court of the United States
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
Law Clerk, Hon. Richard A. Paez, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Advisory Board, Marketplace Risk
Board Member, Executive Advisory Council, Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles
Co-Chair, Amicus Committee, National Asian Pacific American Bar Association
Mandarin Chinese