Craig T. Byrnes and Vincent Tong joined the CELA Board this month.
Craig T. Byrnes spent the first part of his career as a Systems Engineer at N.A.S.A.’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, TRW Space & Electronics, and GTE Government Systems. His work involved him in interplanetary spacecraft exploring deep space, as well as earth orbiting communications satellites. After almost 8 years in the space industry, Craig found his true calling advocating for workers’ rights.
With a solo practice located in Manhattan Beach, Craig litigates wrongful termination cases primarily and has recently added appellate work to his practice. Among his significant cases are Cordero-Sacks v. Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, 200 Cal.App. 4th 1267 (2011) (holding the False Claims Acts’ anti-retaliation provision applies to all employers, not just those who are “persons”) and Thompson v. Impaxx, Inc., 113 Cal.App. 4th 1425 (2003) (holding that it is unlawful for employers to prohibit employees from soliciting or contacting customers after the end of employment, unless necessary to protect trade secrets).
Craig has made a name within CELA as a generous and wise contributor to the Listserv and as a dedicated CELA Trial College Trainer known for encouraging and thoughtful feedback. He looks forward to contributing to CELA’s mission “To promote the interests of employees and to assist the lawyers who represent them,” by maintaining and improving the resources available to plaintiff’s employment lawyers so we can all advocate with maximum effectiveness.
Follow Craig on Twitter @CByrnes_Esq01.
Vincent Tong
A little more than a year out of law school, Vincent Tong founded his own law firm in downtown Oakland to practice employment law. Vincent also represents businesses in business-to-business disputes, and advises and counsels businesses on business formation, intellectual property, and employment law compliance.
Prior to law school, Vincent’s work as a community organizer brought him to the Bay Area where he focused on capacity building, educational outreach and media justice campaign fundraising. As an attorney, Vincent continues his commitment to social justice by regularly providing pro-bono legal services to low-income and immigrant communities through the Employment Law Center’s Workers’ Rights Clinic, Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach, AIDS Legal Referral Panel, Transgender Law Center, and the California Lawyers for the Arts.
Vincent sits on the Board of Directors for the Alameda County Bar Association and is active in CELA’s Barristers Committee. In early 2016, he collaborated with CELA Chair Jean Hyams to recruit almost twenty other bar associations, representing tens of thousands of lawyers throughout the state, as signatories to a letter calling for the vacancy on the Supreme Court to be filled expeditiously. The campaign gave CELA a chance to test drive a social media strategy using Facebook and Twitter. No doubt Vincent will have a chance on the Board to put his social media skills to use again. (Indeed, even Vincent’s dog, Gia, has a social media following, with over 1600 followers on Instagram @giathedobie.)
Vincent values his connection to many organizations and communities, including the Earl Warren American Inn of Court, Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area, Filipino Bar Association of Northern California, Thai American Bar Association, and National Asian American Bar Association. He also proudly serves the American Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division as the Northern California District Representative.
Vincent is the 2016 recipient of the Distinguished Service Award for New Attorney from the Alameda County Bar Association.
Vincent is proud to be the first attorney in his immediate and extended family. When not hanging out with his new wife, Paulina, and [his dog] Gia, he enjoys rock climbing and is currently obsessed with the game of golf.
Follow Vincent on Twitter @tong_law.