DAVID WIMMER, 43
FIRM: Swerdlow Florence Sanchez Swerdlow & Wimmer
LAW SCHOOL: Vanderbilt University School of Law Nashville
CLIENTS: Rio Tinto/U.S. Borax, McLane Company, American National Insurance Co., Lance Campers, Amcor Sunclipse North America, J.T. Posey Co., California Dairies, Cardenas Markets, and Nate ‘N Al Delicatessen.
As a child in Palmerton, Pa., David Wimmer watched his father and grandfather work as attorneys.
“They were the classic small town country lawyers,” Wimmer said. “If the client walked in the door, they could handle that case, whatever it might be.”
After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in Natural Sciences in 1988, Wimmer attended law school at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1991 the young lawyer headed to Los Angeles to work at O’Melveney & Myers.
As a new hire at the firm, Wimmer was placed on six-month rotations through the various divisions. He discovered his calling after being placed with the labor and employment group.
“The attorneys were super nice and super smart,” Wimmer said. “And the cases, questions, and issues every day were exciting and vibrant and real.”
Wimmer continued to practice labor law when he arrived at Swerdlow in 2000, focusing on management-side labor and employment law.
Even after nine years, the job presents significant challenges due to California labor laws that sometimes skew to the disadvantage of employers.
“You talk to employers who are based outside California and they scratch their heads trying to figure out how I do this in California,” Wimmer said. “California employment law is very skewed in the employees’ favor.”
If Wimmer weren’t a lawyer, he said he would be a TV anchorman. He gained on-camera experience during his undergraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania, where he anchored on the college TV station. But Wimmer said he isn’t destined for television fame.
“When you look at me and you look at Brian Williams you can see who’s made to be an anchorman,” Wimmer said.
Wimmer lives in West Los Angeles with his wife, Leslie, and two sons, Sam and Max. He spends his free time coaching soccer and basketball. His wife works at Swerdlow, but not as an attorney – she’s in the financial department. “Never marry a lawyer,” he said.
