Amy R. Patton
Partner
Amy Patton represents employers in state and federal courts in a broad range of labor and employment law matters, including claims for wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, trade secret misappropriation, and wage-and-hour violations. She handles both single-plaintiff litigation and class actions in state and federal court and has appeared before various administrative agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the California Civil Rights Department (CRD), and the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE). In addition to her litigation practice, Ms. Patton assists management in the development of sound workplace practices and policies. She counsels employers on compliance with family and medical leave laws, wage-and-hour compliance, and employee discipline issues. Ms. Patton also advises clients on the creation and implementation of leave programs; conducts wage-hour and pay practices audits; analyzes exemption status under state and federal law; and drafts and updates employee handbooks and other personnel policies. Ms. Patton earned her J.D., magna cum laude, from University of Houston Law Center. Before joining Payne & Fears, she was an associate for five years with Latham & Watkins, where she obtained significant experience in all areas of employment law and business litigation. Ms. Patton started her legal career in the labor and employment department of a regional law firm in Texas. She also practiced in the commercial litigation department of a regional law firm in Arizona. Ms. Patton is a member of the Payne & Fear’s five-person Management Committee, which is the firm’s primary governance committee. She also is the co-chair of the firm’s Employment Law Group, as well as the firm’s Marketing & Business Development Committee. From 2019 to 2020, Ms. Patton was co-chair of Women in Compliance Affinity Group of the National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL).
Bree Ashley Oswald
Associate
Bree Oswald represents clients in all areas of labor and employment law, as well as handles complex litigation. In addition to her employment litigation experience, she has an extensive background in handling products liability, premises liability, and toxic tort matters involving high exposure catastrophic injuries. Ms. Oswald’s broad range of experience makes her the ideal teammate when handling all aspects of emergency and preventative risk management, litigation, and trial. Ms. Oswald earned her J.D. from University of California, Irvine School of Law. She is an effective litigation strategist and fierce advocate for her clients, with industry experience defending technology companies, industry leaders in AI/biometric collection, retail establishments, public entities, as well as automobile, equipment, and heavy machinery manufacturers. Ms. Oswald is active in her local community by advancing pro bono legal services to those in need. She serves as an associate advocate member of the Public Law Center (PLC), Orange County’s largest provider of legal services. Ms. Oswald also serves on the PLC Advocate’s fundraising committee and PLC silent auction subcommittee. While in law school, she received pro bono high honors for completing more than 250 hours of pro bono legal services for veterans.
