Partner

Primary Office: Southern California
Email: JKalinski@RLSlawyers.com
Phone: 310.393.1486
Fax: 310.395.5801

Education
• B.A., University of California, Davis
• J.D., University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law

Jacob heads RLS’s Southern California Labor Litigation Group, where he oversees the firm’s representation of public employee associations and individual clients in various types of civil litigation to enforce their contractual and statutory rights. Jacob is also an experienced labor negotiator, having negotiated numerous collective bargaining agreements to improve clients’ wages and working conditions. In addition, he represents employee organizations concerning day to day labor matters, including “meet and confers” and the prosecution of grievances. Regardless of the forum, Jacob’s work is characterized by his creativity, clarity of thought and excellent persuasive writing.

Many of Jacob’s litigation matters involve challenges to the actions of government agencies that impair employees’ rights to retirement benefits. In 2016, after a three-day bench trial, Jacob obtained a Judgment protecting the rights of thousands of Los Angeles safety employees’ to increases in a retiree medical subsidy. He also represented retired San Jose employees in a challenge of a ballot measure which curtailed retirement benefits, eventually negotiating a settlement guaranteeing their rights to cost of living adjustments and protecting against the depletion of their medical entitlements.

Jacob has also successfully prosecuted numerous writs of mandate on behalf of his clients setting aside discipline wrongfully imposed by employers. Notably, he represented the police officer in the published decision Pedro v. City of Los Angeles (2014) 229 Cal.App.4th 87, which broadened the applicability of the statute of limitations contained in the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights Act. Also in 2014, Jacob successfully defended an appeal of a Judgment he obtained setting aside the termination of a Los Angeles Police Department Officer for illegally selling a firearm. Recently, Jacob won a Los Angeles Superior Court case where he demonstrated to the Court that LAPD Officers terminated after a Board of Rights are entitled to an administrative hearing pursuant to Government Code section 3304(b) challenging that termination.

He is also accomplished in matters before the Board of Administration for the California Public Employees’ Retirement System. In 2017, he obtained a favorable decision from an Administrative Law Judge which led to a settlement on behalf of a retiree who was challenging the reduction of his retirement allowance by CalPERS.

Prior to joining Rains Lucia Stern St. Phalle & Silver, Jacob worked for Silver, Hadden, Silver & Levine. Jacob is licensed to practice in the U.S. District Court for the Northern and Central Districts of California.

Disclaimer: Any results set forth herein are based upon the facts of that particular case and do not represent a promise or guarantee.