Gary Goyette | Rancho Cordova Estate Lawyer

Gary Goyette has been with Goyette & Associates since 2002 and is head of Goyette & Associates’ Civil Litigation Department, handling representation of both employers or other businesses and employees in civil actions in both state and federal Courts.

Gary has taken his extensive experience representing employees/Plaintiffs in all sizes and types of civil actions, including class action/complex litigation in wage and hour cases, and effectively represented employers and businesses as Defendants in civil suits, or in providing legal advice to avoid litigation.

His organization, preparedness and attention to detail in conducting discovery, drafting briefs and presenting oral argument provide Goyette & Associates clients with the highest-quality representation and success in civil litigation and obtain (when feasible) the respect of Judges and opposing counsel.

In fact, Gary has been known to share the following when it comes to the thoroughness of his work “Never forget when doing legal research, writing briefs or preparing for hearings or trial: “Once in awhile you get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right.” (Robert Hunter/Jerry Garcia, 1974).”

Gary Goyette was born and raised in Camino (Apple Hill), California. He earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley and his J.D. from Brooklyn Law School in Brooklyn, New York.

Outside of work, Gary likes to play piano, guitar and harmonica.

With extensive knowledge of both California wage law and the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Gary Goyette has had numerous successes in the litigation of class actions, lawsuits involving multiple Plaintiffs, and cases for individual Plaintiffs. His litigation and settlement of class actions has included prevailing wage claims for tugboat employees, overtime pay claims for misclassified employees working for investment banking companies, off-the-clock wage claims for wastewater treatment plant workers, and wage theft claims for restaurant employees.

Gary has also successfully litigated civil actions for multiple Plaintiffs through to trial, including unequal pay claims for female public employees and misclassification/overtime pay claims for refinery workers. He has litigated and successfully settled hundreds of other civil actions and wage claims seeking overtime pay, commission pay, pay for off-the-clock time, pay for missed meal and rest periods, reimbursement of expenses and other monetary damages for various state wage law and FLSA violations.(See Civil Litigation Victories). Notably his litigation work has involved both private sector employees/employers and public entities – meaning he has handled cases involving both federal and state law, in both federal and state Courts.

Gary’s experience with this extensive Plaintiff-side civil litigation has now enabled him, along with Goyette & Associates’ staff, to successfully defend employers and other businesses as Defendants in civil actions, or as parties facing potential litigation. His experience enables him to accurately assess the risks and liability faced in specific cases, aggressively defend against weak or speculative claims, and obtain the best financial result for clients. The employer-Defendant side litigation has included multi-party construction defect cases, inverse condemnation claims against public entities, discrimination/harassment and retaliation claims against employers, and a variety of other civil suits. In addition, Gary and the staff in the Civil Litigation Department have provided and continue to provide detailed advice based on the intricacies of federal and state law, as applicable, to help business minimize risks/liability and avoid civil litigation altogether in many situations.

Gary works and oversees other attorneys in all aspects of civil litigation with an uncommon attention to detail – likely stemming from his engineering background. Starting with a detailed gathering and evaluation of the facts and circumstances at issue, and assessing that information against the applicable law, as shaped by published Court decisions, Gary and his staff then engage in thorough discovery, including depositions, followed by appropriate motions, leading to trial. The common denominator in this detailed litigation work is establishing leverage for the Goyette & Associates client to achieve successful settlement when appropriate, in lieu of extended, costly litigation – when the settlement provides the best result for the client.