About

Since beginning his legal practice in 1979, Julius Young has represented thousands of individuals who have sustained life-changing injuries or illnesses while on the job. In every case, his goal is to secure the medical treatment his clients need and the maximum benefits they are allowed so they and their families can survive potentially devastating circumstances.

Focusing primarily on workers’ compensation and Social Security disability cases, Mr. Young has established a reputation as being both an excellent negotiator and trial lawyer. He often represents union members such as workers from the building and construction trades, Teamsters, health care workers, grocery retail clerks, machinists and others. (See below for thorough list.)

juliusMany of his clients are seriously injured, requiring multiple surgeries, then develop related difficulties such as depression, medication side effects, sleep disorders and other problems. In handling these cases he often coordinates workers’ compensation benefits with Social Security benefits, long-term disability benefits or PERS retirement benefits.

Mr. Young is skilled at presenting testimony of vocational experts and economists in cases where the issue is whether a worker is totally impaired. These cases, particularly those involving future earning capacity, are usually quite complicated and involve depositions from doctors and/or testimony of labor market experts. He particularly enjoys practicing in a field in which law intersects with medicine. He frequently interacts with doctors while developing his clients’ cases.

His experience includes being selected by the Presiding Workers’ Compensation judge in Oakland to be a judge pro tem, allowing him to serve as a settlement conference judge at the request of the court. He has argued cases at the California Court of Appeal and is admitted to practice in the Northern and Eastern Districts of the U.S. District Courts in California. He frequently lectures on workers’ compensation, Social Security disability claims and employment law to numerous professional groups and unions.

Among his awards are the 2014 Fran Schreiberg Pro Bono award by WORKSAFE, recognizing his extraordinary contributions to its legal assistance and education programs. His Workerscompzone blog has repeatedly been selected by Lexis-Nexis as one of the top 25 blogs on workers’ comp in the USA.

Mr. Young’s longtime community involvement includes service on the Family Service Agency Board of Directors, and service as a member of the Northern California ACLU’s legal committee, development committee and chapter chair. He has volunteered for the San Francisco Employment Law Center Clinic (co-sponsored by WORKSAFE) and has been a featured speaker at seminars sponsored by the California Applicants Attorneys Association, the Industrial Claims Association and the Diablo Valley Claims Association. A past president of the Alameda County Democratic Lawyers Club, he has organized fundraisers for several Democratic political candidates, including U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer.

A writer noted for his straightforward, comprehensive and down-to-earth tone, Mr. Young has authored op-ed articles on workers’ compensation that have been published in the Oakland Tribune, The Recorder and other newspapers. He has also contributed numerous legal advice articles and podcasts to his blog. Since 2011, he has served as co-editor of the Herlick California Workers’Compensation Handbook published by LexisNexis, and serves as a consultant to the California WCAB Noteworthy Panel Decision Reporter, also published by LexisNexis.

Mr. Young earned his undergraduate degree at Davidson College and is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Law School. Before entering law school, he was awarded a Rockefeller Fellowship in theological studies, receiving a master’s degree in theology from the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley. He also studied at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England.

A partner of Boxer & Gerson since 1988, Mr. Young began his career by practicing workers’ compensation and disability law in Sacramento. When he’s not practicing law, he is a world traveler, having visited 34 countries on five continents. He also enjoys tennis, windsurfing, hiking, film, modern art and rock music. Julius is a native of Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Representative Clients:

Mr. Young has represented literally thousands of working men and women over the course of his career. A list of his workers’ compensation clients includes truck drivers, machinists, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, sheet metal workers, roofers, pile drivers, hod carriers, heavy equipment operators, telephone pole climbers, PG&E workers, millwrights, ironworkers, boilermakers, cement masons, teachers, nurses, longshoremen, retail clerks, prison guards, automotive machinists, painters, glaziers, drywall installers, professional dancers and musicians, graveyard workers, bakers, data entry clerks, dispatchers, oil refinery workers, jockeys, massage therapists, restaurant workers, pear pickers, muskrat trappers, policemen, professional football players, route sales delivery workers, janitors, landscapers, tile setters, golf professionals, sewer workers, airline personnel, audio-visual technicians, computer engineers, bartenders, tree fallers, basketball players, nuclear lab workers, tomato harvesters, winery workers, window washers, crane operators, scaffold erectors, printers, movers, taxi drivers, sawmill workers, agricultural spray pilots, bus drivers, asphalt pavers, butchers, bellhops, welders, hostlers, tree surgeons, vulcanizers, elevator installers, bridge workers, miners, steamfitters, carpet layers, paramedics, stunt men, die cutters, fumigators, steelworkers and many more.