J. David Sackman

Mr. Sackman has been a practicing attorney for thirty years, nearly all of which has been devoted to representing workers, their unions and union benefit funds.

He was “organized” by Dolores Huerta while at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and left school to work full-time for Cesar Chavez and the United Farmworkers. Although he studied under the legendary Fred Ross, his total lack of organizing skills convinced him that his best contribution to the labor movement would be as an attorney. Returning to Santa Cruz, he received his B.A. in Community Studies, writing his thesis on a comparison of the UFW, the United Auto Workers, and the farmworker organizing of the International Longshore and Wharehouse Union. He went on to receive his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley (Boalt) Law School, where he studied under David Feller, and worked for the Public Employment Relations Board and National Labor Relations Board.

After passing the bar, Sackman moved to the border town of El Centro, California, where he defended persons from deportation at the detention center. He then worked in the Migrant Unit of California Rural Legal Assistance, representing migrant farmworkers in labor, education and housing issues.

Returning to his home town of Los Angeles, Sackman worked for Roger Frommer, and then the firm of Reich, Adell, Crost & Cvitan (now Reich, Adell & Cvitan), representing unions, workers and union benefit funds. His clients include a crosssection of labor in Southern California, but especially in the construction and entertainment industries, whose labor relations bear a strange similarity to agriculture.

Mr. Sackman was introduced to Eaves’ book, while trying to restore the remedies of mechanic liens to laborers. The success of that endeavor, led to this effort to restore Eaves’ work, and bring it up to date for the modern practitioner, scholar and student.

Mr. Sackman was fortunate to marry the Girl of his Dream, Jerolyn Crute, who is responsible for the formatting and much of the editing of this book. He still lives in Los Angeles, fights for the rights of working people, and enjoys his family in between struggles and writing.