Keker, Van Nest & Peters partner Rachael Meny has been named among the 2026 Top Labor & Employment Attorney by The Daily Journal. Read her profile below.
After graduating from the University of Michigan Law School, Rachael Meny handled litigation across a range of practice areas. She began as a securities litigation lawyer at a large firm, joined Keker, Van Nest & Peters in 1999, ran the domestic violence family law unit in Contra Costa County at Bay Area Legal Aid and returned to Keker, becoming a partner in 2005.
Now, her practice centers on trade secrets, employee mobility and employment-related litigation. "I have always been drawn to litigation, particularly trade secret, employee mobility and other employment-related litigation, because I enjoy helping my clients solve complex problems that have significant real-world consequences, whether outside of, or in, court," Meny said. In the technology sector, these cases move at speed and raise questions with business implications.
In 2025, Meny represented a senior executive in a competitor-to-competitor employee mobility dispute. With partner Warren Braunig, she defeated a competitor's attempt to enjoin her client's move to YouTube, prevailing against requests for a TRO to stop the job change. "This was an important dispute regarding allegedly fixed-term employment agreements in California and the intersection of legal issues related to such agreements and an employee's ability to change jobs in California," Meny said.
In 2024, she led a plaintiff-side lawsuit for Meta regarding a former senior employee who moved to an AI startup. Meta Platforms, Inc. v. Employee, C24-00545 (Contra Costa, Sup. Ct.Filed Feb. 29, 2024).
The case turned on employee mobility and confidentiality issues in the AI industry. With partner Paven Malhotra, she secured stipulated preliminary and permanent injunctions without motion practice, and the case was dismissed in fewer than nine months.
Also in 2024, Meny was part of a trial team defending Google involving allegations regarding Google's TPU chips and patents. During a two-week trial on a narrowed set of claims, she led the damages defense and examined the damages experts. The case resolved before closing arguments. Singular Computing LLC v. Google LLC, 1:19-cv-12551 (D. Mass., filed Dec. 20,2019).
She continues to represent Lyft in People of the State of California v. Lyft and Uber, a JCCP matter in San Francisco Superior Court. Since 2020, she has served as co-lead counsel for Lyft in the action alleging driver misclassification, unfair competition, and PAGA violations, which challenges independent-contractor models in California.
A defining matter was her work for Google in a plaintiff-side arbitration and related cases against an employee who left for a competing AV company, in Google LLC v. Levandowski et al. The litigation spanned arbitration, state courts, federal district court, and bankruptcy court.
"I believe that doing both plaintiff-side and defense-side work makes you stronger at each because it gives you a broader perspective on how disputes develop and how they can best be resolved," Meny said. She said she encourages clients to identify issues early, evaluate how policies operate in practice and weigh how courts and regulators will view a dispute.
Reprinted with permission from The Daily Journal. ©2026 Daily Journal Corporation. All rights reserved. Reprinted by ReprintPros 949-702-5390.
