top of page

The Joe Posner Award

The California Employment Lawyers Association continues to honor the memory of Joe Posner, a brilliant plaintiffs’ employment lawyer. Joe was a founding member of CELA, which has grown from a handful of employee-rights attorneys to an organization of more than 1,400 members.

 

He was a pioneer in advancing the interests of employee rights through his unceasing trial and appellate work. He was extremely generous with his time to all who called upon him for advice and counsel. 

 

As a trial attorney, he had a humble and honest view of himself which endeared him to his colleagues, juries and judges alike. Despite his obvious prowess, Joe was the first to tell you that there was always something to learn from another person that would help him be a better lawyer.

 

Joe was a zealous advocate for his clients and few attorneys could match his skills, wit and charm. He had an unflagging spirit to protect individuals whose job rights were trampled. His dedication was unparalleled.​​

Joe Posner Award Recipients

2001 Bill Quackenbush

2002 Cliff Palefsky

2003 Janet Koehn

2004 Brad Seligman

2005 Dan Stormer

2006 Nancy Bornn

2007 Jeff Winikow

2008 Norm and Beverly Pine

2009 Lisa Maki

2010 Toni Jaramilla

2011 David deRubertis

2012 John Weiss

2013 Kathy Dickson​

2014 Chris Whelan

2015 Dolores Leal

2016 J. Bernard Alexander

2017 David Duchrow

2018 Phil Horowitz

2019 Jean Hyams

2020 Paul Glusman

2021 Barbara Lawless

2022 Genie Harrison

2023 Beth Wolf Mora

2024 Supreeta Sampath

2025 Wendy Musell

2026 Sharon Vinick

CELA Through the Years

CELA's 40th Anniversary

California Employment Lawyers Association

Phone: (818) 703-0587

© 2026 California Employment Lawyers Association

bottom of page