For more than 31 years, Lonny has helped companies large and small solve their toughest workplace problems — and, whenever possible, stay out of a courtroom altogether. When a fight is unavoidable, he defends employers before agencies, in arbitration, at the mediation table, and in front of judges and juries. Through it all, his compass points the same direction: practical, cost-effective solutions to real business problems, not legal theater.
Lonny is, at heart, a storyteller, and his thesis is simple: every organization has a story worth telling: the value it creates for customers, the good it does in its community, the opportunities it gives its people. Leave that story untold, he likes to say, and an adversary will happily write one for you. That instinct for narrative, paired with sharp legal judgment, is what lets him position clients to limit liability and land better outcomes when it matters. Lonny treats each matter as its own case study, building strategic, creative road maps around what a client actually wants, not a template of what lawyers assume clients should want. That common-sense, business-minded approach has helped him defuse potentially explosive employment issues long before they escalate into headlines. Clients bring him their hardest problems, from class actions and PAGA claims to individual plaintiff suits, and lean on his creativity to solve them. His counsel spans the full employment lifecycle: hiring, management, and termination; employment and non-compete agreements; personnel policy development; internal investigations into harassment, whistleblower, and misconduct complaints; management training; and claims defense.
Lonny’s litigation practice runs deep, with matters in federal and state courts, private mediation and arbitration, and before administrative agencies. He also serves as a neutral mediator in employment disputes, helping opposing parties find their way to resolution — usually faster than either side expects. Lonny’s mediation record speaks for itself: more than 300 cases settled over the last twelve years, with a 98% settlement rate reached on the day of mediation, no follow-up required. He specializes in PAGA, wage-and-hour class actions, and single-plaintiff matters, and his real talent lies in helping each side see how it looks from across the table. It is an approach that goes beyond weighing jury appeal and legal risk — it helps people understand each other’s reasoning, which is often the fastest route to yes. Lonny has also published more than sixty articles on employment law, mediation, and workplace issues, proof he can write as persuasively about the profession as he practices it.
Lonny has been recognized multiple times for his professional and civic accomplishments. He was named one of San Diego Metropolitan Magazine’s Men of Influence in Law in 2021, to San Diego Metropolitan Magazine’s annual “Top 40 Under 40” list in 2007, recognized as one of San Diego’s Top 10 Employment Lawyers by the San Diego Daily Transcript between 2009 and 2013, and named a San Diego Super Lawyer for seventeen years, an honor reserved for the top 5% of attorneys as voted by their peers. Lonny has also been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America (2021–2027), and awarded Martindale-Hubbell’s highest peer rating, AV Preeminent, for legal ability and ethical standards, eighteen years running. Lonny received his J.D. from Santa Clara University School of Law in 1995 where he was Order of the Barristers and on the Moot Court Board, and a B.A. in Political Science and International Relations from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1990. Beyond the courtroom, Lonny is fluent in Russian — one more language in which he can tell you, quite persuasively, why settling today beats litigating for the next four years.
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