Justin G. Hewgill

Justin is committed to being a zealous litigator on behalf of working people. His current practice focuses on wage and hour law (class action and individual), workers’ compensation, employment law, and the representation of unions. Justin also has experience in landlord tenant law, election law, and plaintiff-side tort litigation.

Prior to entering private practice, Justin was the supervising attorney for the Employee Rights Center, a non-profit organization which seeks to represent workers in a breadth of legal concerns. At the Employee Rights Center, Justin supervised a team of volunteer lawyers, law students, and support staff in prosecuting cases and enforcing the employment and labor rights of the Center’s clients. In this capacity, Justin prosecuted countless wage and hour matters, both administratively and in civil court, and represented workers in a myriad of administrative forums, ranging from the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board to the National Labor Relations Board.

Prior to working at the Employee Rights Center of San Diego, Justin worked with the San Diego Fire Lawyers, a partnership of law firms representing victims of the 2007 San Diego County wildfires. With the San Diego Fire Lawyers, Justin worked with a team of attorneys representing clients who had lost homes, businesses, and other property, and experienced serious traumatic events in the 2007 wildfires. The San Diego Fire Lawyers was the largest single plaintiff group in the 2007 wildfires litigation, which was one of the largest tort matters ever litigated in the California courts. Prior to working with the San Diego Fire Lawyers, Justin was with the Affordable Housing Advocates, a nonprofit organization dedicated to maintaining affordable and habitable rental housing stock in the San Diego area and the state.

Areas of Practice

• 30% Justin has focused his legal career on the needs of Employment (Wage and Hour)
• 30% Employment (Workers’ Compensation)
• 20% Labor Law (Union Representation)
• 20% Employment (Wrongful Termination and Discrimination)

Litigation Percentage

• 70% of Practice Devoted to Litigation

Bar Admissions

• California, 2008

Education

• University of California at Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, Berkeley, California
  • J.D. – 2008
  • Honors: Jurisprudence Award (highest grade): Labor Law
  • Honors: Prosser Prize (second highest grade): Sex Based Discrimination
• University of California, Riverside
  • B.A. – March 2005
  • Major: Political Science
  • Major: Fine Art

Professional Associations and Memberships

• California Employment Lawyers Association (CELA), Member, 2014 – 2018
• California Applicants Attorneys Association (CAAA) , Member, 2017 – Present

Past Employment Positions

• Employee Rights Center, Supervising Attorney, 2011 – 2014
• San Diego Fire Attorneys, Attorney, 2009 – 2011

Ancillary Businesses

• Policy advisement for progressive community organizations and labor unions
• Election law representation

Languages

• English
• Spanish