Senior In-House Litigation Counsel - Employment and Commercial Litigation

Job Description

Job Description

SENIOR IN-HOUSE LITIGATION COUNSEL – EMPLOYMENT AND COMMERCIAL LITIGATION

About the Company

Yadav Enterprises, Inc., founded in 1989 by Chief Executive Officer Anil Yadav and headquartered in Fremont, California, is a leading restaurant management and hospitality company. Yadav Enterprises provides strategic, operational, and administrative support to affiliated entities that own and operate Denny’s, Del Taco, Taco Cabana, and Nick the Greek restaurant brands and more than 300 franchise locations nationwide, including Jack in the Box, Denny’s, and TGI Fridays.

The broader Yadav Enterprises portfolio encompasses more than 2,000 restaurants and resort properties. Yadav Enterprises continues to pursue growth through brand development, operational excellence, and strategic expansion across multiple hospitality and dining concepts.

Position Summary

Yadav Enterprises, Inc. and its affiliated companies seek an experienced litigation attorney to join their in-house legal team. Reporting to the General Counsel, Senior In-House Litigation Counsel will have substantial responsibility for litigating and managing a broad range of matters across the company’s restaurant and hospitality portfolio.

The position will focus heavily on California employment litigation, including wage-and-hour claims, single-plaintiff matters, class actions, and PAGA representative actions. The attorney will also handle commercial disputes, premises-liability claims, consumer matters, intellectual-property disputes, and other litigation and regulatory proceedings.

This is a hands-on position for an attorney capable of independently evaluating claims, developing litigation strategy, drafting substantive motions and briefs, managing discovery, preparing witnesses, negotiating resolutions, and working effectively with outside counsel and company leadership. The position offers significant responsibility, direct access to senior leadership, and the opportunity to influence litigation strategy across a large and diverse enterprise.

Location and Work Arrangement

The company’s headquarters are located in Fremont, California. The company will consider qualified candidates for an in-office, hybrid, or remote work arrangement. Remote and hybrid employees must be available for court appearances, depositions, mediations, arbitrations, administrative proceedings, and other business travel as reasonably required.

Key Responsibilities

• Litigate and manage employment, wage-and-hour, commercial, premises-liability, consumer, intellectual-property, and other disputes from initial claim assessment through resolution.
• Handle California employment matters, including individual wage-and-hour claims, wrongful-termination and discrimination claims, class actions, and representative actions.
• Draft pleadings, dispositive motions, discovery requests and responses, mediation briefs, arbitration submissions, settlement agreements, and other substantive legal filings.
• Develop and implement litigation strategy in coordination with business leaders, internal stakeholders, insurers, and outside counsel.
• Manage written discovery, document collection and review, electronically stored information, depositions, expert discovery, and trial preparation.
• Prepare company representatives, employees, and other witnesses for depositions, hearings, arbitration, mediation, and trial.
• Appear in court and participate in settlement conferences, mediations, arbitrations, and administrative proceedings.
• Evaluate claims, potential exposure, settlement value, insurance coverage, and litigation budgets.
• Oversee outside counsel to ensure matters are handled efficiently, consistently, and in alignment with the company’s business objectives and risk tolerance.
• Conduct and support internal investigations involving employee complaints, potential legal violations, and anticipated litigation.
• Advise Human Resources and business leaders regarding litigation risk, preservation obligations, employment practices, and dispute avoidance.
• Monitor developments in California employment, wage-and-hour, and litigation law affecting the company’s operations.
• Maintain accurate reporting regarding case status, reserves, deadlines, litigation expenses, and material developments.

Required Qualifications

• Juris Doctor degree from an accredited law school.
• Active membership in good standing with the State Bar of California.
• At least five years of experience as a practicing litigation attorney, including substantial hands-on experience defending California employment and wage-and-hour litigation.
• Demonstrated ability to independently manage litigation through pleading, discovery, dispositive-motion practice, mediation, arbitration, and trial preparation.
• Demonstrated experience with pleadings, law-and-motion practice, written discovery, depositions, witness preparation, and settlement negotiations.
• Strong legal research, analytical, investigative, and writing skills.
• Ability to manage a substantial and varied caseload with appropriate judgment, organization, and attention to deadlines.
• Ability to work effectively with executives, operational leaders, Human Resources personnel, insurers, outside counsel, and employees across multiple brands and jurisdictions.
• High level of professional judgment, integrity, and discretion in handling privileged, confidential, and sensitive information.
• Ability and willingness to travel as reasonably required.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience handling employment arbitrations and mediations.
• Experience appearing before or responding to matters involving the California Labor Commissioner, Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, California Civil Rights Department, or similar agencies.
• Experience with wage-and-hour class actions and PAGA representative actions.
• Experience managing high-exposure or multi-party litigation.
• Familiarity with insurance-defense strategy, claims handling, coverage issues, and insurer reporting.
• Experience working at a leading litigation firm or in a sophisticated in-house legal department.
• Trial, arbitration-hearing, or significant evidentiary-hearing experience.
• Experience representing restaurant, retail, hospitality, franchise, or other multi-location employers.

Compensation and Benefits

The estimated annual base salary range for this position is $160,000 to $200,000. The final compensation will be determined based on the candidate’s qualifications, experience, geographic location, and the requirements of the position.

The company offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes:

• Discretionary bonus eligibility
• Medical insurance
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• Paid time off
• Employee assistance program
• 401(k) plan

Yadav Enterprises, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.