Julie Taylor

Julie Taylor is a shareholder with Keesal, Young & Logan in its San Francisco office and is admitted to practice in California and Washington.  Julie focuses on employment litigation, and has defended employers in judicial, arbitration, and administrative proceedings involving claims for discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination, retaliation (including Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower claims), defamation, invasion of privacy, violation of federal and state leave laws, and breach of contract.  She has also defended numerous wage and hour proceedings, including class and mass actions alleging violations of overtime and other wage and hour laws in both state and federal court.  Julie regularly advises clients regarding compliance with employment laws, rules and regulations, harassment and discrimination investigations, hiring and termination issues, privacy issues, strategies for dealing with “problem” employees, and the preparation of employment manuals and various agreements.  In addition, Julie has given seminars on a variety of employment law topics.

In addition to her employment practice, Julie focuses on the defense of financial services firms and banks, with particular emphasis on securities brokers.  She has handled hundreds of cases filed before securities arbitration forums such as FINRA and its predecessors, PCX, as well as before the AAA.  Julie has also defended federal, state, and FINRA claims alleging the aiding and abetting of criminal activity, such as money laundering, fraudulent wire transfers, and Ponzi schemes.

Julie graduated summa cum laude with a degree in political science from California Polytechnic State University in 1988, and graduated magna cum laude from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 1991.  While in law school, Julie was a member of the Hastings Law Journal and was elected to the Order of the Coif.  Julie has served as a mediator for the San Francisco Superior Court’s Settlement Program, and has been recognized by Law & Politics Magazine as one of Northern California’s “Super Lawyers” every year since 2006.   In 2016, Julie was named one of California’s top labor and employment lawyers by the Daily Journal.  She is active in a variety of charities and served for many years on the advisory council of The Salvation Army’s Kroc Community Center in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District.

Julie has served on the Board of Directors of the California Bar Foundation since 2012, and, on January 1, 2015, began serving a two-year term as President of the Board.  The California Bar Foundation is the center of philanthropy for California’s lawyers, a major force in diversity efforts for the bar, and a leader in ensuring access to justice for all Californians.  Under Julie’s leadership, the California Bar Foundation has become California’s largest independent source of statewide law school diversity scholarships and pipeline program grants, and has instituted a first of its kind postgraduate legal fellowship placing diverse lawyers in some of the most underserved parts of the state.

Practice Areas

• Employment
• Securities
• Class Actions
• Unfair Business Practices