Michael Olsen
Associate
Mike is a fearless, proactive, and creative advocate for his clients, exclusively practicing management-side employment law since graduating from law school in 2015. Immediately before joining Kading Briggs, Mike was in-house legal counsel, serving as the sole Labor & Employment Counsel for North America for a publicly traded e-commerce and logistics company with two thousand employees. Having served as in-house counsel, Mike understands the constraints and realities that his clients face, which allows him to offer practical solutions to his clients’ employment law needs.
Mike has successfully represented employers in litigation before state and federal agencies, courts, and arbitral forums. He has represented and counseled clients across various industries, including aerospace, manufacturing, film and studio, e-commerce, retail, finance, healthcare, hospitals and insurance providers, and staffing and employee leasing companies. Mike has won injunctive relief for clients faced with the theft of trade secrets and the dismissal of numerous employment suits brought under state and federal wage & hour and civil rights laws, including Title VII and the Fair Employment and Housing Act. Other examples of his successes include winning dismissal of an executive’s suit for breach of contract on the eve of trial, dismissal of numerous actions at the pleadings stage, summary judgment affirmed on appeal to the Ninth Circuit, and defeating class certification in state court in protracted litigation involving the alleged misclassification of IT employees.
Before his role in-house, Mike was an associate who began his career at Ogletree Deakins, followed by associate positions at Bryan Cave and Manatt, Phelps, & Phillips.
Education
J.D. University of California, Hastings College of the Law (2015), summa cum laude
M.A., San Francisco State University
B.A., California State University, Fresno, summa cum laude
Professional Affiliations
Mike is the President and serves as a Board Member of Orange County Lavender Bar Association, Orange County’s LGBTQ+ bar association. He is also a member of the Orange County Bar Association, the National LGBT Bar Association, and the Association of Corporate Counsel.
Mike is also the Treasurer and serves as a Board Member of Orange County Coalition for Diversity in the Law, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit collaborative of professionals from leading Orange County law firms and other community partners promoting the recruitment, retainment, equity among, and advancement of diverse attorneys in Orange County, California.
In the Community
Mike has provided pro bono legal services including providing pro bono adoption services to foster parents in Los Angeles County, obtaining immigration relief for juvenile immigrants in a class action suit against the federal government, and serving at various legal clinics supporting low-income individuals.
Honors
“Ones to Watch,” Best Lawyers in America, recognizing excellence in employment law for attorneys with 5-9 years of practice, 2021
“Lawyers of Distinction,” 2021-2022.
Phone: (949) 450-4461
E-mail: molsen@kadingbriggs.com