Finance Monthly Global Awards 2018 Edition

WHISTLEBLOWER LAWYER OF THE YEAR FIRM PROFILE The deRubertis Law Firm, APC is a leading boutique, contingency- fee trial law firm. The firm’s primary practice area is handling and trying all types of employment disputes on behalf of employees, including whistleblower, discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination, defamation and employment-related class actions. Given the firm’s proven record of success in employee rights representation, The deRubertis Law Firm, APC consistently receives a Tier 1 Ranking for Employment Law – Individuals by Best Law Firms in America. In addition to the firm’s employment practice, the firm’s attorneys (including firm founder David deRubertis) also handle and try catastrophic injury and wrongful death matters, contingency business litigation cases, consumer class actions, insurance bad faith matters and virtually any type of civil litigation case where the firm can represent a party harmed the intentional misconduct or neglect committed by others. ABOUT DAVID DERUBERTIS Employee rights trial lawyer David deRubertis is the principal and lead trial lawyer of The deRubertis Law Firm, APC, where his primary focus is trying employment cases on behalf of employees who were retaliated against, discriminated against or harassed based on their protected conduct or traits or otherwise wrongfully terminated. He has tried virtually every type of single-plaintiff employment case, including cases involving whistleblower retaliation, sexual or other prohibited harassment, discrimination based on age, disability or other protected traits, and employment-related defamation. DeRubertis has secured multiple employment-related record-setting jury verdicts and his trial accomplishments have led to him being honored as the 2014 “ Trial Lawyer of the Year ” by the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA), which is the largest local trial lawyer organization in the United States. Whistleblower Focus: Representing those who speak truth to power In more recent years, a growing part of deRubertis’ practice has been representing whistleblowers, including senior-level executives who reported concerns about potential financial- or accounting-related misconduct within their company. One example is deRubertis’ historic representation of Catherine Zulfer, the former corporate controller of Playboy in the Sarbanes-Oxley retaliation case of Zulfer v. Playboy Enterprises, Inc. There, as lead trial counsel for Ms. Zulfer, deRubertis secured what was then the largest ever Sarbanes-Oxley retaliation jury verdict in United States history from a unanimous federal court jury. Playboy, represented by the mega-firm Sheppard Mullin, alleged that Ms. Zulfer’s position was eliminated in a reduction-in-force when it outsourced or eliminated her duties. But, deRubertis persuaded the federal jury that the true reason for Ms. Zulfer’s termination was retaliation for her disclosures of what she believed were attempted violations of the company’s internal controls. The record-setting verdict made headlines nationwide, and Ms. Zulfer’s quest for justice was vindicated through deRubertis’ efforts. Since the Zulfer trial, a growing portion of deRubertis’ practice is representing senior executives who blow the whistle on and report suspected financial misconduct and/or improper accounting practices like Ms. Zulfer. Another current example is deRubertis’ representation of Tri Huynh, a former senior executive within Wal-Mart’s e-Commerce business, in Huynh v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., a Sarbanes-Oxley retaliation case alleging DAVID DERUBERTIS Principal of The deRubertis Law Firm, APC Finance Monthly Global Awards 2018 www.finance-monthly.com 66 USA