Julia Jenness is the Managing Shareholder for Boutin Jones Inc., Sacramento’s second largest law firm. As Managing Shareholder, she is Chairman of the Board of Directors and leads the business development, business and management efforts of the 50-lawyer firm in California’s capital. In addition to her role leading the firm, she has a thriving law practice where she serves as outside General Counsel and Special Counsel to some of the region’s largest companies, special districts, and nonprofits.
She works with employers on all aspects of the employment relationship: reductions in force, termination issues, severance agreements, and employee training, counseling and discipline. She advises employers on wage and hour issues, reasonable accommodations under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act and the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, and compliance with the Family Medical Leave Act. She has many years of experience conducting sexual harassment investigations for businesses and public entities, including investigations involving publicly-elected officials and the executives of multi-billion dollar private entities. She has drafted executive compensation plans, as well as employment, change in control, indemnification, employee leasing and independent contractor agreements.
In addition to her career-long focus on employment law, Julia has spent the bulk of her career working with financial institutions. She helps banks, credit unions and other financial institutions on federal and state regulatory compliance with agencies such as the California Department of Business Oversight, the FDIC, the Federal Reserve Board and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. She has written vendor, loan purchase and loan participation agreements. She has represented financial institutions, as well as their directors and officers, in business transactions and on the same range of employment issues and agreements that she has for other industries.
Whether it’s counseling clients, structuring employment and severance agreements, or talking to a company about a security risk—it all fits into the category of solving problems for employers.
I help employers comply with the law. I help my clients prevent employment problems, contain problems quickly and stay out of the courtroom as much as possible.
In situations where an employer has a complex problem, like misconduct in business operations or the need to terminate a long-term, high-level member of the executive team, I’ve been able to come in, look at those complicated situations, and offer solutions to resolve the issue quickly and effectively.
For me, nothing outside of work can compete with hiking in Yellowstone and enjoying the Tetons. I love it because the diversity of wildlife is incredible. The wilderness corridor in that area of the country is like none other.
Annual Employment Law Year in Review, Boutin Jones, Moderator and Speaker, 2007 – Present
Continuing Education of the Bar, “Business Law Practice: Recent Developments,” Speaker, 2005 – 2007, 2010 – 2011
IRS Issues new Guidance on COBRA Subsidy, Co-Author with Jarrod J. Burch, 2009
Employment Development Department/North Valley Employer Advisory Council, “Overview of Key Labor Law Developments,” Speaker, 2009
Sacramento Employers Advisory Council (SEAC), “Managing Leaves of Absence,” Speaker, 2006
Continuing Education of the Bar, “Essential Employment Law Issues for California Businesses: Issues in Hiring and Employee Handbooks,” Moderator, 2005
Chamber of Commerce, “Employment Law Year in Review,” Moderator, 2005
Employment Counseling
Special counsel for regulatory compliance on FMLA, reasonable accommodation, and policy issues for public employer with over 2,000 employees
Counsel for management in negotiation of Memorandum of Understanding between public employer and union
Lead counsel in structuring and implementing Reductions in Force for both public and private employers
Development of Employee Handbooks, Executive Employment Contracts, Employee Severance Agreements, Change in Control Agreements, Compensation Plans, and Indemnification Agreements
Development of Trade Secrets and Confidentiality Agreements, Employee Leasing Agreements, Independent Contractor Agreements, and Vendor Agreements
Lead counsel in defending employer and prior officers of company against wage claims brought on behalf of former employees by federal Department of Labor and California Labor Commissioner’s Office
Lead counsel in discipline, termination, post-termination grievance procedures, and appeals by public employees against special districts
Investigator for claims of sexual harassment against President of multi-billion dollar private company
Investigator for claims of sexual harassment against publicly elected officials of special districts
Corporate Finance and Securities
Lead counsel for purchase of $500,000,000 in warrants by Financial Institution from the State of California
Counsel for construction of $22,000,000 corporate headquarters of Financial Institution
