Conor J.D. Gómez, Esq. · Wage & Hour Mediator
Mediation for wage-and-hour class and PAGA actions.
From a class action settlement attorney and law professor who knows the data, the math, and what California courts approve.
- Plaintiff and defense counsel
- Statewide
- Zoom only
Where I help
My practice primarily focuses on wage-and-hour class and representative (PAGA) actions.
I also mediate single-plaintiff employment disputes: wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, wage and hour, and more.
Why I'm specialized here
Outside counsel to companies
How employers weigh exposure, cost, and cash flow.
Employment litigator
What the evidence can prove, and what it can't.
Class and PAGA settlement attorney
What courts approve, and where deals fall apart.
Certified mediator
Certified in 2021 and mediating disputes ever since.
Law professor
Contract drafting, so every term says what it means.
What these cases demand
- Court approval
- Preliminary and final approval, and PAGA review.
- The data
- Class size, workweeks, pay periods, and violation rates set the range.
- Absent class members
- Terms must be fair to people who aren't in the room.
- Administration
- Notice, allocation, payroll taxes, and unclaimed funds.
Settlement expertise
The skills behind a settlement that holds.
Payroll and time data
Records, samples, and violation rates, read closely.
Working with experts
Fluent in the damages models both sides' experts build.
Dunk/Kullar analysis
Exposure claim by claim, discounted for real risk.
MOU structure
Key terms set so the long-form agreement follows cleanly.
Payment terms
Installments and funding schedules when cash flow is the obstacle.
Approval-ready terms
Read with a contract drafting professor's eye.
Claims I mediate
- Meal and rest periods
- Off-the-clock work and rounding
- Overtime and regular rate
- Expense reimbursement
- Wage statements and waiting time
- Misclassification
- PAGA-only and hybrid actions
- And more
Single-plaintiff disputes
In addition to class and PAGA representative actions, I also mediate single-plaintiff employment disputes.
Wrongful termination
Discrimination
Harassment
Wage and hour
And more
Fees
Starting rates, split equally between the sides and due at booking.
Half-day session
$8,000
4 hours · $4,000 per side
Full-day session
$15,000
8 hours · $7,500 per side
Additional time
$400
Per hour, invoiced at the end
Pre-mediation calls
Included
With brief and data review
Estimate each side's share
Session
Additional hours
Sides
Each side pays
$4,000
Total $8,000 · 4 hours · 2 sides
Starting rates, split equally. Additional time is invoiced at the end of the session.
Payment terms
- How to pay
- Details come with each side's invoice.
- Due at booking
- Each side's invoice is due when the date is set.
- Additional time
- $400 an hour, invoiced at the end and due within 48 hours.
- Cancellations
- Full refund 15 or more days before, half 8–14 days before, none 0–7 days before.
Working together
Dates are set by email with all counsel, then invoiced to each side.
My role
The parties draft the settlement agreement. I guide both sides to a resolution, with the experience to work through the pain points that stall these deals and to shape terms that will stand up in court.
How to book
Email from counsel
All counsel copied, confirming everyone agrees to mediate and the date works.
Conflict check
Cleared against every party and firm.
Invoices
Sent to each side separately, due at booking.
Confirmation
Sent to all counsel once both sides have paid.
Zoom only · Cases statewide
Before the session
- Class data or an agreed sample, exchanged early
- Class size, workweeks, and pay periods
- Your exposure analysis, claim by claim
- A mediation brief, one week ahead
- Decision-makers with full authority on Zoom
Questions
Email me with all counsel copied, confirming that everyone agrees to mediate and that the date works. Each side then receives its own invoice, due at booking.
Once both sides have paid. A confirmation email goes to all counsel automatically.
Full refund if cancelled 15 or more days before the mediation, half if cancelled 8–14 days before, and none if cancelled 0–7 days before.
A half day is 4 hours and a full day is 8. Additional time is $400 an hour, invoiced at the end of the mediation and due within 48 hours.
Yes. My practice centers on wage-and-hour class and PAGA actions, and I also mediate single-plaintiff employment disputes: wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, wage and hour, and more.
Yes, along with hybrid class and PAGA actions. PAGA allocation and LWDA requirements are part of the terms from the start.
Usually time and payroll records or an agreed sample, plus class size, workweeks, and pay periods. We set the exchange on the pre-mediation calls.
Each side has a private breakout room. I move between them and bring counsel together when it helps.
Meet the mediator
A certified mediator, settlement attorney, and law professor who has worked from every side of the table.
I've been outside counsel to companies, an employment litigator, and a class and representative action settlement attorney, and I teach contract drafting. I was certified as a mediator through California Lawyers for the Arts in 2021 and have volunteered my time mediating disputes ever since, before launching this practice in this specialized area. I stay neutral and bring that experience to both sides.
- Education
- J.D., UCLA School of Law
- Admitted
- State Bar of California, No. 337395
- Mediation
- Certified 2021, California Lawyers for the Arts
- Experience
- Volunteer mediator since 2021
- Teaching
- Professor of contract drafting
- Focus
- Wage-and-hour class and PAGA
My approach
Peace is a practice.
Neutral
I protect the process, not a position.
Confidential
Protected under California law.
Voluntary
No one is bound unless they agree in writing.
Practical
Plain terms, real deadlines, workable outcomes.
Background
From the stage to the settlement table.
Before law
Professional ballet dancer
Discipline, timing, and reading the room.
2017
B.A., UC San Diego
Sociology, Law & Society.
2020
J.D., UCLA School of Law
Academic Gold Award; Visiting Scholar at UC Irvine Law.
2021
California Bar
UC President's Public Service Fellow, California Lawyers for the Arts.
2021
Certified mediator
California Lawyers for the Arts. Volunteer mediator from then on, before launching this practice.
Today
Mediator, professor, attorney
Contract drafting and class action settlements.
Beyond the practice
Former professional ballet dancer, musician, koi keeper, and family man.
Let's talk.
Call, text, or email to check dates or discuss a case.
Monday–Friday, 9–6 PT · Replies within one business day.
Peace is a practice.