THE MAKINGS OF A DISCRIMINATION LAWYER
Northridge, California, 1990.
Future discrimination lawyer, Karl Gerber,
shaking the hand of California State University Northridge president at his 1990 Political Science graduation. His future competitor, Gloria Allred can be seen in white below the dias. She was the guest speaker. Gerber's next mission was to shake her hand. He yanked Gloria Allred's hand firmly, looked into her eyes and thought, "Move over woman. I am coming to los angeles to fight discrimination."
13418 Ventura Boulevard, spring of 1999, on February 23, 1999 Gerber acquired the present location of the Employment Lawyers Group. This is the final stage of reconstruction. A smooth stucco coat is going in front of the building.
The back of 13418 Ventura Boulevard, Sherman Oaks, getting a smooth stucco coat.
Sherman Oaks, California 1999. The stucco at 13418 Ventura Boulevard is complete.
13418 Ventura Boulevard, March of 1999, looking up towards Gerber's office.
13418 Ventura Boulevard, summer of 1999, Gerber works in his office while the windows are being replaced
13418 Ventura Boulevard prior to move in day April of 1999, the second floor gets remodeled
13418 Ventura Boulevard, 2nd Floor, 1999 remodel. Some of the framing you see here was removed in 2008 when Danz & Gerber disbanded.
Sherman Oaks, California, March 1999, unsafe working conditions somewhere at Danz & Gerber
Sherman Oaks, California, time to concrete over the 4 inch sewer pipes underneath the floor of the downstairs associate office. Funny, back then Gerber thought moving a 94 pound bag of Portland Cement was a big deal.
Sherman Oaks, California late 1994. Karl Gerber's first conference room, and the site of his first deposition
Office 1952: Sherman Oaks, California 1952. The empty lot is where 13418 Ventura Boulevard, the present day site of the Employment Lawyers Group was built in 1972.
January 1 2000, Karl Gerber travels to Washington D.C. in hopes of seeing Bill Clinton. Little does Gerber know, 10 years later in 2010 he will apply for admission to the District of Columbia Bar.
Sherman Oaks, California, early 2005. Crooked tie Gerber is ready for a case.
Early 2010, Oxnard Marina. An entire foreclosed home appears in the middle of the main channel and Gerber believes he will crash his Jungle Cruise Electric Cruiser.
Mandalay Beach, Oxnard California 2009 or 2010. Early days of Employment Lawyers Group's Oxnard operation. Horses appear on the beach to serve Gerber with the employer's legal briefs.
Noir Studio City, California around Halloween 2002. Inside the now demolished residence of murder mystery writer Babcock where he used to hold retreats with other pulp writers such as Dashiell Hammett. Inside of Babcock's former second story writing room, Gerber feigns his death while a former supervisor/employer witness spills the beans thinking Gerber is dead.
Studio City, California early 2004. The ghost of Dwight V. Babcock can be seen looking out from his former writing room. His aura can be seen reflected on the 3 cubic yard dumpster to the right in the reflection of light. He knows the destruction of his residence is imminent due to Gerber's increasingly more ambitious and complex construction projects he undertakes himself.
May 2004, Studio City, California. Gerber onsite with oldest son.
Studio City, California, 2004 Gerber's difficult to frame and build hillside construction continues.
Studio City, California, August 2007. Gerber does construction cleanup for less than minimum wage.
Studio City, California. Yet another license plate branding Employment Law. This time, "EMP ESQ."
Studio City, California 2007. Gerber demonstrates how to get a back injury by not bending his back when lifting.
Oxnard, California, summer of 2013. Lunch break during a deposition at the Oxnard office of Employment Lawyers Group.
Summer of 2013, 110 North Grand entrance to Los Angeles Superior Court, Stanley Mosk Courthouse, where Gerber had on file 2/3 of the employment cases in the courthouse around 2001.
Downtown Los Angeles, 2013. All of the office buildings where employment defense lawyers unsuccessfully plot to win cases against the Employment Lawyers Group.
Downtown Los Angeles, Disney Hall. Do you know how many times Gerber has navigated a luggage cart full of trial boxes past tourists taking pictures of this stupid building?
September of 2013. Meeting room at Employment Lawyers Group, Oxnard.
Studio City, California, around September of 2013. Gerber expresses skepticism as the Sherman Oaks staff of the Employment Lawyers Group is photographed.
Sherman Oaks, California in front of Tony's Liquor on the corner of Ventura Boulevard and Dixie Canyon across from the Employment Lawyers Group, Sherman Oaks building. Gerber and son want entrance for candy before school on son's first day at Dixie Canyon Elementary. Son will make his first commercial purchase there around this time.
Studio City, California, smug looks by Associate Attorney, Eric Palmer, when it is suggested at some point in his career he could lose an employment case.
Studio City, California, Associate Attorney Ann Guleser identifies with the Asian woman on the hill behind her when thinking about the irrelevancy of the cases cited in the employer's appeal she must oppose.
Somis California fall of 2013. Gerber is asked to summarize the employer's argument in an employment discrimination case. He projects this picture for the judge.
Oxnard, California, November 2013. Gerber is about to take a deposition and destroy defense witnesses in a race discrimination case.
Oxnard California, Festival of lights 2013. From the Jungle Cruise's windows something odd is seen floating towards Employment Lawyers Group, Oxnard.
December of 2013, Gerber experienced confusion in Denver. He finds out this room has not been the Colorado Supreme Court in years, and the Senate who he plans to get up to speed on discrimination laws is nowhere to be found!
December of 2013, Gerber travels to Denver to see this slogan on a courthouse.
Studio City, California first night of Passover 2014. Something is definitely wrong with the moon. Maybe it is changing colors to show us color is an irrelevant perception of light.
Oxnard, California, April of 2014. A very different kind of client appears in the waterways at the Oxnard office seeking representation on no other than a contingency basis. The Employment Lawyers Group refuses to discriminate on the basis this client does not speak English and cannot come any closer to the office than the dock.
November of 2008. The floor of 13418 Ventura Boulevard, now Employment Lawyers Group, is stripped in preparation for new hardwood floors. A drawing of the unbuilt, grand employment law center for Danz & Gerber which Gerber won an architectural award for can be seen on the wall.
November of 2008, hardwood floors are installed in the downstairs hallway of the Employment Lawyers Group, Sherman Oaks.
2009, Sherman Oaks California. A former Danz & Gerber property must be remodeled because the partnership has disbanded and the recession has hit.
Sherman Oaks California. During construction, Gerber's oldest son discovers a safe at the former Tony Nancy's Bitchen' Stichin' Speed Shop. With the proceeds from the safe the Employment Lawyers Group is able to expand onto a nationwide basis. The found money is rumored to be the sum Steve McQueen's paid Tony Nancy for the stich job on his 1956 Jaguar XKSS.
Sherman Oaks California. Tony Nancy peed in this very toilet and I would not be surprised if Steve McQueen, Burt Reynolds, Clark Gable, John Wayne, and Gary Cooper.
Sometime in 2009, Sherman Oaks, California. Yep all that garbage once belonged to Tony Nancy, even his former locked pressed wood gun cabinet being used to house former soil bags filled with construction debris. Hey, maybe The Duke paid off Tony Nancy with a rifle that used to be in there
Placentia California, 2007. Gerber attended this elementary between 1974-1977. Other than his siblings there were not any other Jews attending this school back then. The lack of diversity in this early Orange County tract that used to be an orange grove was formative for Gerber's decision to be a discrimination lawyer.
Seabridge Marina, Oxnard California, 2009. Gerber's electric boat can be seen at the dock.
Chicago, 2009. A fitting name for an establishment.
