Alyson C. Decker

Alyson Claire Decker is an experienced litigator, general counsel, space attorney, mediator, board member, consultant, public speaker, and an employment law guru.

Born and raised in So. Cal., Ms. Decker graduated from the University of Southern California Law School in 2007 and began her legal career at Orrick, the Am Law 100 firm.  Prior to joining Taylor |Anderson, Ms. Decker worked at several nationally renowned boutique law firms, became the Vice President of Legal Affairs for a group of privately held companies with an annual revenue of over 100 million dollars, and founded her own law firm, Alyson Claire Law.

Ms. Decker has litigated in state and federal courts across the country, sat on both sides of the table as counsel for Plaintiffs and counsel for Defendants, conducted internal and third-party investigations, and handled cases ranging from employment, wage and hour, class actions, entertainment, antitrust, business, contract, real estate, complex, trademark, trade secret, high profile celebrity cases, and appellate. She is also a member of the Association of Workplace Investigators.

In addition, Ms. Decker utilizes her background as an experienced general counsel, executive, and board member to provide an elite level of non-litigation legal services, including contracts, compliance, employment, risk assessments, and corporate work.

Ms. Decker also conducts mediations and arbitrations through ARC, AAA, and NAM, taking her years of experience as a litigator, and her formal mediation training from the Los Angeles County Bar Association and the Center for Civic Mediation, to work with counsel and their clients to reach a joint resolution of their disputes.  Ms. Decker tempers her no holds barred honest assessment of a party's claims and defenses with a compassionate touch because, truth be told, every dispute becomes personal to the parties involved in it.

Representative clients include: Beyond Pricing, DreamCare, Full Ritúal, an international RXM SaaS company, various aerospace and defense companies, a healthcare startup, a healthtech startup, a fertility treatment support app., a travel gamification experience app., public entities, high-end consulting firms, a medical scribe service, a bookkeeper, an interior designer, a subscription greeting card service, Dollhaus Beauty Co., a concierge camping service, an IT service provider, staffing companies, law firms, a drycleaner, a holiday lighting company, closely held family owned businesses, several entrepreneurs and executives, and numerous other startups and scaling businesses.

Noteworthy Defense Wins:

Alyson obtained numerous four-and-five-figure settlements of heavily contested individual employment law cases.

Alyson resolved several legacy wage and hour class action and PAGA cases in the low to mid 100k range.

Alyson negotiated a pre-motion for summary judgment settlement of $2,500 on behalf of two defendants in a breach of contract case with claimed damages of between six and seven figures.

Alyson successfully demurred to (granted without leave to amend) and opposed a motion to stay in a case involving two well-known toy companies and alleged fraudulent transfers.

Significant Plaintiff Victories:

Alyson has obtained numerous six and seven figure settlements in various employment law matters.

Alyson obtained a six-figure settlement after winning a motion for remand and successfully opposing a motion to dismiss in a retaliation and race discrimination case involving an international carryout chain restaurant.

Alyson successfully blocked the distribution of a sex tape and obtained stay away orders for a celebrity client.

Alyson prepared all the appellate briefing and obtained a $3.5 million settlement in a class action legal malpractice case after the matter was dismissed with prejudice in the District Court and briefing and oral argument had been completed before the Ninth Circuit.

• “Entrepreneur Essentials: Lightning Talks on Financials, Legal, Marketing, and HR” (my presentation starts at 8:48), Speaker at the 5th Annual StartOut Equity Summit, June 2024.

• “What Does “Sustainability” Really Mean Within the Aerospace Industry?”, Presenter and Space Law & Policy Session Panelist at the International Space Development Conference (organized by the National Space Society), May 2024.

• “Global Space Players - Optimizing Best Practice for Greater Efficiency”, Panelist for Space Tech Expo USA, May 2024.

• “Discovering How to Get the Most Out of the Most Hated Part of Litigation: Discovery 101”, Virtual MCLE Presentation for Legal Up 2024 (organized by InfoTrack and One Legal), April 2024.  (Encore Presentation for the Orange County Paralegal Association, July 2024.)

• “California Employment Law Updates for Non-California Attorneys”, MCLE Presentation for the King County Bar Association Business Law Section, Feb. 2024.

• “The Legal Cosmos: A Simplified Perspective on Space Laws”, CosmoBuzz Podcast, Feb. 2024.

• “Private Entities as Actors in Regional Space Governance Organizations”, Technical Paper Session at ASCEND 2023 (powered by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics), Oct. 2023.

• “Analysis of Due Diligence and Good Faith in Commercial Outer Space Activities”, Organizer, Facilitator, and Speaker of a Special Session at the 74th International Astronautical Congress (organized by the International Astronautical Federation), Oct. 2023.

• “Tips & Tricks from a Mediator: Alyson Explains Post-Mediation Steps”, MCLE Program for CEB, April 2023.

• “Tips & Tricks from a Mediator: Alyson Explains Managing Clients and Counsel”, MCLE Program for CEB, April 2023.

• “Tips & Tricks from a Mediator: Alyson Explains How to Prepare for Mediation”, MCLE Program for CEB, April 2023.

• “Jurisdiction and Employment Law in Space: How to Prepare for an Uncertain Legal Future”, Keynote Speaker for the International Space Convention 2023, March 2023.

• “Space Junk: Creating a Sustainable Space Ecosystem”, Panelist for the International Space Convention 2023, March 2023.

• “The Ethics and Morality of Lawyering & The Law”, Panelist (full day MCLE event organized by the Western San Bernardino County Bar Association and the University of La Verne College of Law Student Bar Association), Jan. 2023.

• “Space Law”, Guest Speaker for Prosperity Camp, Jan. 2023.

• “A Human Future in Space”, Panelist for the 4th Annual International Humans in Space Summit 2022, Nov. 2022.

• “Outerspace Futurism”, Panelist for the 2022 Commons in Space Virtual Conference (organized by the International Association for Study of the Commons), Nov. 2022.

• “Space Commoners: Workers of the Future Space Commons”, Co-Presenter (with Julia Malette) for the 2022 Commons in Space Virtual Conference (organized by the International Association for Study of the Commons), Nov. 2022.

• “Filing and Certifying Class Actions”, MCLE Program for CEB, Oct. 2022.

• “Defending Wage Claims: Opposing Class Cert”, MCLE Program for CEB, Oct. 2022.

• “Preserving Unspoiled Space for Future Generations”, Interactive Presentation at the 73rd International Astronautical Congress (organized by the International Astronautical Federation), September 2022.

• “Human Rights and Space Exploration”, Presenter and Panelist for the “What impacts will space exploration and settlements have on Earth and beyond?” Webinar for Australian Earth Laws Alliance’s “Space Exploration: An Update for Earthlings”, July 2022.

• “Women in Aerospace”, Panel Speaker for The Task Force on Inclusion, Diversity and Equity in Aerospace Zoom Panel (organized by the Center for Air & Space Law and the Space Frontier Foundation), May 2022.

• “Working in Space: The Final Frontier of Remote Work”, Presenter and Panelist for Northern Illinois University Law Review 2022 Symposium on Sustainable Developments in Space Law, April 2022.

• “How to Prepare for a Successful Mediation”, Virtual MCLE Presentation for Legal Up 2022 (organized by InfoTrack), April 2022.

• “Vision for the Moon Village: Present” (Selected Presentations from Call for Papers & Round Table), Panel Speaker for the 5th Global Moon Village Association Workshop & Symposium, Dec. 2021.

• “Space Ethics & Human Rights”, Panel Speaker for ASBX (Australian Space Biology X Health Symposium), Nov. 2021.

• “Sole Proprietorship? Partnership? S Corp.? C Corp.? B Corp.? LLC? L(L)P? WTAF?!?”, Presentation for a SmartBean Share & Learn Event: “Structure for Success”, Nov. 2021.

• “Employment Relationships and Privacy in Space”, Presentation for ASBX (Australian Space Biology X Health Symposium), Nov. 2021.

• “Human Rights in Space - The Right to Health”, Panel Speaker for the 2021 ASCEND Conference - Building Our Off World Future, Nov. 2021.

• “Space Ethics, Equity and Justice Panel”, Panel Speaker for the 3rd Annual Space Futures Forum, July 2021.

• “Employment Law Workshop”, Webinar for the REC Innovation Lab, July 2021.

• “Labour Law and Human Rights in Outer Space”, Episode 3 of the Pod Ad Astra, June 2021.

• “2021: Covid’s Tech Effect on the Law”, Panel Speaker for an Event Held by (STyLE) the Students of Technology Law & Entrepreneurship Southwestern Law School, March 2021.

• “Unconscious Bias in the Workplace”, MCLE Webinar for the Ventura County Bar Association (Probate & Estate Planning Section), Jan. 2021.

• “Bias in the Legal Workplace”, MCLE Presentation for The Santa Barbara and Ventura Colleges of Law, Sept. 2019.

• “The Nuts & Bolts of Briefing”, MCLE Presentation for the Santa Barbara Paralegal Association’s 10th Annual MCLE Conference, Sept. 2019.

• “VCPA 2019 Springtime MCLE Conference: Elimination of Bias”, MCLE Presentation for the Ventura County Paralegal Association, March 2019.

• “Bias at the Firm: Employment Law and the Law Firm”, MCLE Webinar for CEB, Nov. 2018.

• “Motions for Summary Judgment”, MCLE Presentation for The Basics Conference 2018: Employment Litigation, Sep. 2018.

• “Recognizing Bias in the Workplace: The 411 on Employment Law”, MCLE Webinar for the San Fernando Valley Bar Association, May 2018.

• “How to Handle a Complaint of Harassment or Discrimination Before It Becomes a Lawsuit”, Webinar for Women in Health Administration of Southern California, April 2018.

• Association of Workplace Investigators, Member

• StartOut 2024 Equity Summit Programming Board
• StartOut, Mentor, July 2023 to Present
• Starburst, Mentor, July 2023 to Present
• Altair Enterprises Ltd Advisory Board, Member, March 2023 to November 2023
• University of La Verne College of Law, Adjunct Professor, January 2022 to August 2022
• Jus Ad Astra, Legal Advisor, May 2021 to November 2023
• Smokey Hawk Solitons Advisory Board, Member, April 2021 to March 2023
• REC Innovation Lab, Mentor, July 2021 to December 2021
• The Santa Barbara & Ventura Colleges of Law, Adjunct Faculty Instructor, May 2019 to August 2021

Alyson is a proud cat mom who enjoys drinking champagne with her husband, who she met in college, and playing her electric bass guitar.