February 3, 2020

Payne & Fears Elects Three Attorneys to Partner

Payne & Fears LLP (P&F) has elected three of its attorneys to the partnership. The new partners include Melissa Clark, David (“Dave”) Grant, and Robert (“Bobby”) Matsuishi.

Dave and Bobby have worked as associates at P&F for more than seven years and Melissa has served as Of Counsel for nine years.

“This is a great day to celebrate the elevation of these three individuals,” said Daniel Fears, P&F’s founder, and managing partner. “They are outstanding lawyers, outstanding people, and great to work with.”

Melissa (Powar) Clarke, of the firm’s San Francisco office, is a member of the Employment Litigation Group. She advises global clients large and small on employment law and benefits best practices. In addition to helping clients comply with municipal, state, and federal regulations, Melissa focuses on managing compensation and equity issues, litigation avoidance, day-to-day employee relations issues, and severance and separation matters. She has developed and delivered hundreds of training modules to clients, including courses in benefits administration, anti-harassment, documenting employee issues, wage-and-hour compliance, and management basics. Melissa also has extensive experience preparing companies for financing rounds, mergers and acquisitions, and initial public offerings.

David Grant (“Dave”), of the firm’s Irvine office, is a business litigator who works with clients of all shapes and sizes, from startups to Fortune 500 companies, across various commercial sectors. Dave litigates and advises on federal and state cases involving breaches of contract, partnership disputes, statutory violations, and a variety of business torts, including disputes regarding employee mobility, trade secret misappropriation, and other complex litigation.

Robert Tadashi Matsuishi (“Bobby”) has experience in complex business matters involving trade secret misappropriation, non-competition agreements, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, unfair competition, securities fraud, corporate governance violations, and real property disputes. He also has extensive experience litigating labor and employment matters, with a focus on wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, and retaliation cases, wage-and-hour claims, and False Claims Act actions.