Arif Virji - Partner

Arif Virji chairs the Labor and Employment Law Group at CMPR.  Arif has represented employers successfully in state and federal litigation, arbitrations, and administrative proceedings, defending against claims of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, reasonable accommodation, and wage and hour violations.  He represents employers in individual and class action wage and hour lawsuits involving claims of missed meal and rest breaks, unpaid overtime, misclassification, off-the-clock work, and failure to provide suitable seating.  Arif recently completed a three-week jury trial on behalf of a major employer in Marin County, California, involving claims of sexual harassment, failure to prevent sexual harassment, retaliation, and disability discrimination.  On July 8, 2022, the jury returned a defense verdict on all counts.  On September 15, 2022, Arif successfully defeated a motion for Class Certification on a wage and hour case involving a putative class of 450 employees.

Arif also assists clients in preparing employment agreements, counseling on legal compliance, layoffs, and terminations, and conducting investigations into HR complaints.  He regularly advises employers on COVID-19 regulatory and compliance issues, including testing, face-covering and vaccination requirements and religious and disability accommodations.  Arif serves as counsel to several prominent wineries and restaurants in Sonoma and Napa, along with many other clients, in the public and private sector.

Arif’s commercial litigation practice includes breach of contract, shareholder disputes, real estate, and trade secret disputes.  He also regularly defends against website accessibility lawsuits and provides strategic advice on website audits and remediation efforts designed to prevent repeated claims.  He has tried a variety of complex commercial cases, including most recently a successful arbitration on behalf of a major Software as a Service (SaaS) company in a shareholder dispute.  Arif has a reputation as an aggressive, detail-oriented advocate, who has great success at trial and providing sound business advice.

He has served as a Settlement Conference Pro Tem Judge in San Francisco and Sonoma County Superior Courts and as a mediator for the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission.  Arif is admitted to practice in California and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.  He has successfully tried multiple cases before judges, juries, and arbitrators.