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| Patricia C. Perez |
| SPHR, Attorney at Law |
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“Patti” C. Perez is founder and president of Puente Consulting, Inc.
Ms. Perez is a well-accomplished HR and employment law professional, having gained extensive management knowledge and experience through education and a variety of career moves. She is a fully bilingual native of El Salvador and her Latino heritage and Spanish-speaking skills enhance her varied and impressive background. A graduate of the UCLA School of Law and a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources, Ms. Perez has practiced employment |
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law since 1992. Before founding Puente, she was a practicing attorney at two San Diego
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law firms, a project director for a U.S.-Mexico judicial education program in Mexico City, and in-house employment counsel and head of Human Resources and Employee Relations for the Washington, D.C. office of Skadden Arps, one of the world’s largest law firms.
Ms. Perez is considered a legal expert in the areas of employment law and human resource management. She has trained thousands of HR, legal, and other management professionals from many different fields. Ms. Perez founded Puente in 2001, and has grown the business at an impressive rate with a national client list including Fortune 500 and Fortune 100 companies.
A sought-after speaker, Ms. Perez makes frequent presentations about HR and employment law topics. She was recently interviewed on San Diego’s KPBS 89.5 FM radio show, “These Days”, with Tom Fudge where she discussed the new sexual harassment laws and has had speaking engagements for the State Bar of California, the California Restaurant Association, the San Diego County Bar Association, the Hospitality Human Resources Association, and the Society for Human Resource Management, among others. Ms. Perez has also taught employment law at UCSD.
Ms. Perez’s work at Puente allows her to combine all her talents by offering employment law and human resources consulting to companies with English- and Spanish-speaking employees. Her goal is to bridge the wide gap that often exists between employer and employee, and between diverse cultures within the workplace to bring about harmony, understanding, and increased productivity and profitability.
Ms. Perez is very active in community and professional organizations. She is a strong proponent of mentorship, especially for the underprivileged or underrepresented. She has served on various committees with MANA, acting as a mentor to young Latinas. She has spoken to numerous groups of Latina girls, allowed them to shadow her at work, and presented at their career days. Through the San Diego La Raza Lawyers Association, Ms. Perez not only served on the Board, but also participated in numerous mentorship events including teaching a “Community Law School” seminar (in English and Spanish) aimed at providing low-income Latino residents of San Diego with basic information about the American legal system.
Currently much of her volunteer time is spent at her son’s elementary school where she donates at least four hours a week working in his bilingual classroom. This type of volunteerism recently garnered Ms. Perez the Minorities in Business Magazine’s Cesar Chavez Community Service award for significant community involvement and outstanding service to the multicultural community at large.
Education and Certifications - University of California, Los Angeles, Bachelor of Arts in English, 1989
- UCLA School of Law, JD, 1992
- Human Resources Certification Institute (HRCI) Senior Professional in Human Resources, 2000
Industry Affiliations - California Bar Association Labor and Employment Law Section, Member of the Executive Board (Ms. Perez will be the Chair of the Committee in 2009)
- American Bar Association, Member of the Labor and Employment Law Section
- San Diego County Bar Association, Member of the Labor and Employment Law Section
- Society for Human Resource Management, national and local chapters
- San Diego Lawyers Club
- San Diego La Raza Lawyers Association
- American Society for Training and Development
Community Affiliations - MANA, a national Latina organization (former Board member)
- UCLA Alumni Association (former Board member)
- National Association of Women Business Owners
Publications - Authored “Workplace Investigations: Seven Critical Steps to Success™”, a toolkit outlining the steps to conduct workplace investigations
- Authored a chapter on workplace investigations for the 2007 edition of the prestigious “Advising California Employers” published by the State Bar of California’s Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB)
- Authored an article in the San Diego Business Journal (SDBJ) on Sexual Harassment laws
- Covered in the San Diego Business Journal, the San Diego Daily Transcript, and the San Diego Union-Tribune multiple times for business growth and news
Speaking Engagements - Sex, Sex, Sex: Everything You Wanted to Know About Gender in the Workplace, California State Bar Section Education Conference, January 2005
- Managing a Diverse Workforce, California State Bar Section Education Conference, January 2005
- Preparing for 2005: An HR Professional’s Guide to a Successful New Year, Hilton Cluster Group, November 2004
- Things that Keep In-House Counsel Up at Night, California State Bar Labor & Employment Law Section Annual Conference, November 2004
- Cross Border Employment Law, California State Bar Annual Convention, October 2004
- The Essentials of Wage & Hour Law, Hospitality Human Resource Association, October 2004
- Resolving Wage & Hour Legal Issues: A Practical Approach, presented in conjunction with Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton, July 2004
- Avoiding Lawsuits through Effective Employee Discipline & Dispute Resolution, San Diego SHRM Law Day, January 2004
- Top Ten Issues Corporate Counsel Face, California State Bar Labor & Employment Law Section Annual Conference, October 2003
- How Well Do You Know Discrimination & Harassment Law?, San Diego Employer Advisory Council Legal Update Conference, October 2003
- Conducting Workplace Investigations, San Diego Industrial Recreational Council, September 2003
- Critical HR Issues for the Small Business Owner, San Diego MANA “Adelante Mujer” Annual Conference, May 2003
- Sex, Drugs & Rock and Roll: The Legal Limits of Workplace Behavior, California State Bar: Section Education Institute Conference, January 2003
- Techniques for Interviewing Restaurant Personnel, California Restaurant Association Annual Convention, August 2002
- Making the Most of Your Spanish-Speaking Restaurant Employees, California Restaurant Association Annual Convention, August 2002
Expert Witness Work
Ms. Perez has been designated as an expert involving numerous employment law issues including: - The extent to which a company had an obligation to conduct an investigation
- The adequacy of workplace investigations
- Whether companies provided employees with reasonable accommodations for their disabilities
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