We know that we do this everyday, but you don’t. We know that your livelihood is on the line. That’s why we never stop thinking about how to best represent your business, your reputation and your bottom line.
We know that your business is just as important as ours. We know you have as much expertise in what you do as we have in our business. We treat you like professionals – because you are.
We want to help you avoid litigation all together. Because we know that the best case is the one that never happens. We provide on-site training of your managers so that they stay in compliance with the complex California employment laws.
If you should face a lawsuit after you’ve paid us to train your staff, the entire cost of that training will automatically be applied as a credit to any litigation costs we charge. You’ll never pay us twice.
If you should face a legal challenge, the first thing we’ll do is provide a free consultation to understand your situation. And then we’ll put together a comprehensive budget for you to review and approve.
We have staff strategy sessions each week, at no cost to you, in order to brainstorm the most effective legal strategy for your case. We don’t want you to rely on just one attorney’s expertise, when you can benefit from over 65 year’s worth.
We are responsive, upfront, honest about your case, and we will always keep you in the loop.
We anticipate their actions, and do what we can to stay one step ahead. Let us handle the worry and the hassle. You have a business to run.
We are ethical and at the same time, we will pursue every legal avenue open to us. We fight as hard for you as if it were our own reputation on the line – because it is.
We are a highly respected leader in civil litigation, focusing on employment law for businesses of all sizes, offering both direct representation to business owners, and thru insurance companies offering Employment Practices Liability Insurance.
Since 1991, Narayan Travelstead Ku and its predecessor firm, Narayan Law Firm, have aggressively represented its clients in both state and federal courts, administrative proceedings and arbitration.
With decades of trial experience and countless summary judgment and appellate victories, we promise to always aggressively, effectively and efficiently fight for you, our client.
Our attorneys have represented private businesses large and small, public entities, and individuals facing a wide range of claims, including:
Whether trying to settle a case, preparing to go to trial or seeking to reverse an unjust verdict on appeal, Narayan Travelstead Ku always works to get the best results in the most cost-effective way possible.
We practice in all State Courts in California and the Federal Courts of the Northern, Eastern, Southern and Central Districts, as well as the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
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Tim is the Managing Attorney and lead litigation attorney. A graduate of Williams College and Georgetown University Law Center, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude, Tim has over 15 years of employment, complex commercial litigation and civil appeals.
Mr. Travelstead was the principal author of the winning brief in Ross v. RagingWire, where the California Supreme Court ruled employers do not have an obligation to accommodate marijuana in the workplace.
Tim has represented businesses of all sizes and industries, who faced all types of employment claims including discrimination, harassment, wage-and-hour, job misclassification and retaliation claims under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act.
Employment Litigation
Mr. Travelstead has extensive experience representing employers facing discrimination, harassment, retaliation, whistleblower, and wage-and-hour claims. His practice includes both public and private sector employers, from large and small businesses across a wide range of industries, from technology to retail, restaurants to finance. Tim was the lead author in the winning brief in Ross v. RagingWire Telecommunications, Inc., 42 Cal.4th 920 (2008), where the California Supreme Court held that an employer does not have an obligation to accommodate marijuana use under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act.
Tim also represented a public healthcare district in a multi-plaintiff employment discrimination and harassment case. With the plaintiff’s seeking over $1 million in damages, the jury returned a complete win for the healthcare district.
Employment Clients Include:
City of Emeryville
City of Richmond
San Francisco School District
Macy’s
Technisource, Inc.
Execustaff HR, Inc.
Budget Rent-a-Car
Hull & Company
Yank Sing Restaurants
Complex Litigation
In addition to his considerable employment litigation background, Tim has extensive experience in complex litigation matters as well. He authored the brief that defeated class certification in a large overtime misclassification case involving the retailer Coach, defeated a class action against Doctors Medical Center at the pleadings stage, and has favorably settled numerous wage-and-hour class actions in the financial services, temporary staffing, food processing, emergency services, construction, and IT services industries.
Tim also has significant class action and complex case management experience outside of the employment and wage-and-hour sectors, including toxic-tort litigation, copyright and trade secrets cases, false advertising and unfair competition claims.
Class Action Clients Include:
Armani Exchange
Coach, Inc.
Foot Locker
Perot Systems, Inc.
Toys R Us
Doctors Medical Center
Civil Appeals
Mr. Travelstead has over a decade of experience representing both public and private sector clients in civil appeals. He wrote the winning brief in Ross v. RagingWire Telecommunications, Inc., 42 Cal.4th 920 (2008), where the California Supreme Court ruled employers have no legal obligation to accommodate an employee’s medical use of marijuana. He has represented public and private sector clients before the California Court of Appeals and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in discrimination, harassment, and wage-and-hour class actions, and commercial contract disputes.
Tim recently won an important appellate victory when a commercial tenant sued her landlord, the real estate broker, and the property manager over the conditions of the property. A jury ruled against the tenant in 2010. But four years later, she attempted to resurrect the case alleging intrinsic fraud in the conduct of the trial.
Tim wrote the winning brief and argued the case. The Court of Appeals upheld the jury’s verdict and awarded costs to the landlord.
Other Civil Appeals Clients Include:
RagingWire, Inc.
San Francisco Unified School District
Foot Locker
Execustaff HR, Inc.
MicroDental Laboratories
Doctors Medical Center
Tim is also an active member of the LGBT community, providing long-term legal support to the LGBT National Help Center, and its hotlines for at-risk LGBT youth, adults and seniors.
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Scott’s focus is on employment litigation, most often on the defense side for small and mid-size businesses. Scott has also represented clients in guardianships, breach of contract and other areas of the law.
Scott attended the University of California at San Diego, graduating as a double major with degrees in both Psychology and Political Science. He them received is JD from the University of San Diego School of Law, where he worked with the Asian Pacific American Law Student Association and worked as a Research Assistant at the Veteran’s Administration Medical Center to help vets combat depression, PTSD and substance abuse.
Motivated to enter the law by growing up in a first-generation immigrant family from Taiwan that still owns a small business to this day, he knows first-hand the challenges faced by everyday people whose entrepreneurial spirit looks to build a better life for themselves and their employees, all while having to navigate California’s complex legal system.
Practice Areas
Employment Litigation
Complex Civil Litigation
Public Sector Civil Litigation
Education
University of California at San Diego
University of San Diego School of Law
Experience
Mr. Ku’s practice and experience focuses on employment and other litigation for individuals as well as both public and private sector employers.
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Sandy is our lead trial attorney and founded the Narayan Law Firm, Narayan Travelstead’s predecessor in 1991, starting one of the largest South Asian-American owned law firms in California. A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, Sandy has practiced law in California for 30 years, and has recently served as the President of the San Mateo Bar Association.
Sandy has served as lead counsel in over 20 jury trials. She has been selected by her peers for five years for inclusion in Super Lawyer Magazine to be in the top 5% of lawyers in employment litigation defense in Northern California.
She has represented scores of public and private sector clients in numerous discrimination, harassment, personal injury, whistleblower and retaliation cases.
Ms. Narayan’s reputation and experience have led her firm to be selected as panel counsel for various Fortune 500 insurance companies including:
Liberty Mutual Insurance Group
Golden Eagle Insurance
Allstate Insurance Companies
Safeco Insurance Companies
Ms. Narayan regularly has handled complex high value cases.
Defended public health district in four-plaintiff employment discrimination and harassment case, involving over $1 million in claimed damages, resulting in complete jury win for defense.
Representing the FDIC on many cases involving fraud, torts and of matters in Federal Court.
Defending the California Department of Insurance in a civil rights and employment bias case to a defense jury verdict in San Francisco.
Representing the Federal Government in the Federal Court Northern District in one of the largest real estate litigation matters in the Bay Area: involving over twenty Cross-Defendants to a successful conclusion with no taxpayer monies paid.
Representing Contra Costa County in Federal Court on Civil Rights claims asserted by a female deputy.
Representing Alameda County Sheriff’s Department in an excessive force case with Civil Rights claims involving an inmate classified as a Sexually Violent Predator.
Representing through Jury Verdict in the Federal Court, Northern District, and in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Rights claims against the County of Alameda Department of Social Services on the constitutionality of its longstanding policies on removal of children from their parents.
Obtaining a defense jury verdict at trial on a brain injury case against the County of Alameda.
Obtaining client favorable judgments involving employment discrimination claims against the Alameda County Medical Center.
Representing a Safeco insured through a defense favorable verdict after a two month jury trial in Marin County on a matter involving fraud, torts, real estate and related matters.
Ms. Narayan is active in the legal, minority and local communities. She provides her services as a Court approved arbitrator in San Francisco and Santa Clara County Superior Courts. She serves as an Early Neutral Evaluator for the Federal Court, Northern District. She serves on the Board of the San Mateo County Bar Association. She currently provides legal counsel to the Fiji American National Association.
Her positions have included:
President, San Mateo County Bar Association 2016;
Chair of the Litigation Section of the Barristers of the Bar Association of San Francisco.
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Greg is a Senior Attorney and has practiced law for 30 years. During that time, he has handled over 40 trials as well as numerous mediations and arbitrations.
Greg is a graduate of Drexel University and the University of San Francisco School of Law.
Practice Areas
Employment Litigation
Construction
Professional Liability
Landlord/Tenant
Education
Drexel University
University of San Francisco School of Law
Experience
In Brummett v. Camden Village Homeowner’s Association, Mr. Franchi obtained a defense verdict on a property management liability case for a Homeowner’s Association in Santa Clara County Superior Court.
He served as in house counsel for Liberty Mutual Insurance for six and a half years. Mr. Franchi is a licensed real estate broker, a member of the Real Estate section of the American Bar Association and the State Bar of California.
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Jenny specializes primarily in employment litigation, litigating cases alleging discrimination, harassment, and wage and hour violations. Prior to joining Narayan Travelstead, she litigated multi-million dollar securities fraud class action lawsuits on behalf of institutional and individual investors.
Jenny attended the Honors College of Rutgers University, where she majored in Art History and Sculpture. She then spent several years in management at a nationwide marketing company before attending law school at Temple University Beasley School of Law. During law school, she served as a Staff Editor for the Temple Law Review, Executive Editor of the Temple Law Political and Civil Rights Society, and Co-Chair of the Gender Justice Committee of the National Lawyers Guild. She also earned a Certificate in Trial Advocacy and Litigation from Temple Law.
In her free time, Jenny serves as Executive Director for her local roller derby league, and actively participates in the league as both a skater and official.
Practice Areas
Employment Litigation
Civil Litigation
Public Sector Litigation
Education
Rutgers University
Temple University School of Law
Experience
Jenny’s practice focuses on complex civil and employment litigation, including both discrimination and wage and hour matters.
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Winifred specializes primarily in employment litigation for small and mid-size businesses. Many of her cases allege claims of discrimination, harassment, and wage and hour violations. She has also represented clients in probate conservatorships and other areas of the law.
Winifred graduated with a B.A. degree in History at the University of California, Berkeley. She then received her JD from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, where she was an active member of the Asian Pacific American Law Student Association. Since law school, Winifred has worked with many different clients, including minors facing school expulsion, public and private schools, county departments, and public hospitals.
Winifred is a member of the Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area.
Practice Areas
Employment Litigation
Public Sector Civil Litigation
Conservatorship Litigation
Education
University of California, Berkeley
University of California Hastings College of Law
Experience
Wini’s practice and experience focuses on employment law and other civil litigation for individuals and employers in both the public and private sector.
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Gabriela specializes in employment law, litigating cases alleging discrimination, harassment, and wage and hour violations. Before joining Narayan Travelstead, Gabriela gained experience working with clients in civil cases, including misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of contract, and entity formation. She also worked as a Judicial Extern for the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.
Gabriela attended San Jose State University, graduating as a Dean’s Scholar with a Bachelor of Science in Justice Studies and a minor in Psychology. She earned her Juris Doctor from Santa Clara University School of Law, where she also served as Vice President of the La Raza Law Student Association.
Practice Areas
Employment Litigation
Public Sector Civil Litigation
Education
San José State University
Santa Clara University School of Law
Experience
Gabriela’s practice and experience focuses on employment law and other civil litigation for individuals and employers in both the public and private sector.
Contacting us is your first step in getting strong legal representation to protect your business.
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Narayan Travelstead Ku P.C.
7901 Stoneridge Drive, Suite 230
Pleasanton, CA 94588
650-403-0150
Or email us at info@NTKattorneys.com
Official accreditation as an LGBT-owned business by the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.