As Managing Partner, Mr. De Wames leads the firm’s employment law practice in its nine offices throughout California. A renowned trial attorney, he represents businesses in the full range of employment and labor law litigation with creative strategies tailored to the individual needs of his clients.

Eric is a vetted Trial Attorney and an expert advocate in the full range of employment law matters including wage-and-hour, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and wrongful termination claims. He brings particular expertise to representing clients in class actions and claims under the Private Attorneys General Act. He’s a skilled counselor for all forms of businesses, public entities and school districts in all matters before federal/state agencies including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Department of Labor, the Department of Fair Employment, and the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement and the Office of Administrative Hearings, to name a few. Twice he was named one of California’s Super Lawyer Rising Stars by Thomson Reuters.

An engaging speaker, Eric conducts seminars across the state to assist employers in navigating California’s rigorous, ever-evolving compliance regulations, always with an emphasis on preventing litigation. He’s a published contributing author for Forbes and he co-authored MS&A’s e-book, “Navigating COVID-19: A Legal Guide for California Employers.” It’s a free resource for businesses in our state, regularly updated to reflect the changing pandemic landscape.

Eric is also an employment law expert consultant for Insurance Education Association (IEA) an organization dedicated to providing HR, risk managers and insurance carriers education on disability management and other employment-related compliance mandates. He advises on and is an editor for IEAs course materials and is a frequent guest lecturer.

Eric graduated from the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento with distinction. He was on the Dean’s Honor List, and was a member of the Traynor Honor Society for Academic Excellence.

He’s a founding member of the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Advisory Council, and supports a wide range of charities for human rights, animal welfare and access to health care.

Eric is proficient in written and spoken Spanish.

Christine Rodman is a visionary leader with an extensive background in Human Resources and training, spanning over 25 years. Christine’s expertise shines through her skillful design and facilitation of numerous training programs, each crafted to enhance productivity, ensure legal compliance and elevate the morale within organizations across a broad spectrum of industries. Beyond her professional pursuits, Christine is deeply passionate about giving back to her field and the local community.  Serving as State Director Elect for CalSHRM, Christine works to actively shape the future of HR practices and showcases her commitment to collaborative growth.  Her altruism extends to organizations like the Volunteer Center of Sonoma County, Chops Teen Club, and the YWCA. Christine finds balance in an array of exhilarating activities.  Whether scuba diving into the depths of the ocean, snowboarding down mountainsides, running marathons with determination, or relishing cherished moments with her family, Christine embraces life with enthusiasm and authenticity.

Mike is currently the Senior Director of Talent and Organization Development at Applied Materials, a semiconductor capital equipment manufacturer headquartered in Santa Clara, California. He has extensive experience in high tech organizations and several functions including Manufacturing, R&D and Human Resources. He currently focuses on organization development and has been involved in startups, mergers & divestitures. He has traveled extensively to Europe and Asia and has lived abroad on an expatriate assignment in Dresden, Germany. His current focus has been developing talent pipelines for critical technician roles. He has a Masters in Education, MBA and Ph.D. in Human and Organizational Systems from Fielding Graduate University. He is also currently an adjunct professor at San Jose State University in their Business School. 

Mr. Bedi joined Visa in 2014 in Asia Pacific leading its regional client engagement strategy. Recently, he led all sales learning and leadership development for Visa in North America. He is currently focused on helping organizations develop a coaching culture. Mr. Bedi has shared his thought leadership and expertise in this area at leading HR conferences, including the Conference Board (https://www.conference-board.org/events/engagementsummit)

Prior to Visa, Arun was with PayPal  in Sales Enablement.  Previously, he was with  Dell Computers where he helped to develop an integrated go-to-market strategy for emerging markets.   Before Dell, he was with Cisco Systems,  in the client-facing strategic consulting practice.

In his early career, Mr. Bedi ran a successful US fintech startup to provide credit scoring for under-represented minorities.    Mr. Bedi has also held assignments globally with Chase Manhattan Bank and Citibank.  He started his career as a management consultant with Booz Allen & Hamilton, in the Financial Services practice.  Mr. Bedi graduated from Cornell University with a BA, BSc, and an MBA. While at Visa, he pursued his Masters in HR at Cornell (awarded July 2023) with an emphasis on coaching and internal talent marketplaces.

Sue Pelbath was appointed Deputy Director of the Specialized Services Division at the California Department of Rehabilitation (DOR) by Governor Gavin Newsom in June 2022. In this role, Pelbath oversees all of DOR’s employment and independent living services for blind and deaf Californians. Prior to her current appointment, Pelbath held multiple other positions at DOR, including Administrator of DOR’s Orientation Center for the Blind, Manager of the Programs and Services Division, Senior Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor, Qualified Rehabilitation Professional and Service Coordinator. She was a Paraprofessional in Special Education at the Oceanside Unified School District from 1990 to 2004. Pelbath earned a Master of Science degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from San Diego State University. She acquired blindness as an adult and brings valuable lived experience to the work she does.

WHAT I DO
I co-pilot Gravity Learning as we design, deliver, and oversee fantastic (ahem!) in-person and remote learning programs for mid and large organizations. We specialize in soft "people" skills, management, systems, software process, product, and compliance.

POINT OF VIEW
My belief is that all learning should be based in science, not trends or common knowledge. But, that's not enough. It must also be engaging, skill-focused, and measured to the point of "proof". Learning without measurement is just a wish.

And... fun. Let's have fun while we're here on this Earth.

WHO I AM
I've been a bit of an obsessive generalist my whole life. An insatiable desire to learn, grow, and share learning with others has come in handy in the learning industry. I nerd out on learning and how humans work, project management, time management, emotional management, classroom management, people management, and... basically all of the managements. If I had to pick a favorite, my main area of interest is the exquisite art of teaching and learning design.

PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT
A Gravity, we solve problems inherent in the way companies traditionally do learning. We do that by focusing on how humans actually learn AND how business decisions are made. We’ve innovated a multi-touch and ROI focused approach to learning that Gravity uses to build and support workshops. I also thought-partner to help supercharge (and sometimes totally revamp) internal learning departments for our clients.

TRIVIA
I ride a Onewheel electric skateboard around the neighborhood like some kind of teenager. I have three wonderful dogs and one of them is named David Lieberman Junior. My Google Fu is strong.

Remy Biglow is a talent development professional who provides consulting services to non-profits.  She is on the Board of Directors for ATD Golden Gate and is the Head of Certifications for SHRM NorCal. Remy holds an MEd degree from the Memorial University of Newfoundland and her SHRM-SCP, CPTD, PMP, and SHRM California HR Law Specialty certifications. 

Management Expert with over 15 years of diversified program management related experience including in business process improvement, organizational design and alignment, training, and risk mitigation for education, government, non-profit and private sectors. Demonstrated effectiveness in the design and delivery including the creation of IT to HR and academic programs and their alignment. Experience includes academic research and instruction positioned to mid and senior executive audiences in HR, Organizational and Leadership methods and practices, as well as program and risk assessments with a specific emphasis on organizational and leadership ambidexterity development (i.e., the balance between innovation and competency development) - critical to the digital transformation economy. Prior to graduate academia, five-years of experience as an IT Business Process Consultant, Training Manager, and Product Manager in both high compliance-driven client engagements and start-up environments. Extensive training in strategic stakeholder assessments, change management methodologies, curriculum design including external policy reviews, benchmarking, and use of quantitative and qualitative data collection such as surveys and interview methods for organizational change and design work.