Naomi Young, ’74

Partner with Kauff McClain & McGuire LLP

A long career in labor law began for Young when she started her legal career with the National Labor Relations Board in Newark, N.J. She returned to California in 1976, and began working for Littler Mendelson, where she became a principal in the firm in 1981. From 1985 to 2002, she worked at Gartner & Young, a boutique labor and employment law firm that she co-founded. In 2002, the firm moved its practice to the Los Angeles office of Baker & Hostetler LLP, where Young is now a partner. She has a long involvement in civic affairs and the legal community. She served as a commissioner on the California Fair Employment and Housing Commission. She is currently a volunteer mediator for the Los Angeles County Superior Court, and has served on the board of directors of California Women Lawyers, the Legal Aid Society of San Francisco, and the John M. Langston Bar Association in Los Angeles. She is a founding and executive committee member of the National Employment Law Council, an organization composed primarily of minority counsel representing management in labor and employment law. She has also been active in a number of other bar associations. In 2003, she was selected one of America’s top black lawyers by Black Enterprise Magazine, and has been honored as one of Southern California’s "super lawyers" by Los Angeles Magazine for several years.