Law Firm Overview

Before starting my own law practice, I spent more than ten years representing the interests of management in employment issues, ultimately becoming an equity Partner in the Employment Law Department of Paul Hastings LLP. During my tenure at Paul Hastings, I achieved a successful jury trial, arbitration, and summary judgment record, as well as broad experience with mediation. I placed and continue to place great emphasis on counseling clients and in the early negotiation and resolution of disputes. I recognize the difficulty employers have in keeping abreast of changes in California law, as well as the challenges employees have in understanding their rights and remedies.

I resigned as a Partner with Paul Hastings in 2008, and opened her own law practice to include representation of both employers and employees. My firm’s practice includes the representation of senior executives and highly-compensated professionals, as well as employees subject to unlawful employment practices. I provides a unique and valuable perspective to my clients, having analyzed and litigated employment disputes as a management-side lawyer for many years.

My practice areas include: Wrongful Termination; Sexual Harassment; Racial Harassment; Other forms of Harassment; Whistleblower Claims; Racial Discrimination; Gender Discrimination; Disability Discrimination; National Origin Discrimination; Pregnancy Discrimination; Age Discrimination; Age Discrimination in Employment Act; Disability Accommodation; Unpaid Wages; Wage and Hour Disputes; Employment Contracts; Family Medical Leave Act; California Family Rights Act; California Fair Employment and Housing Act; Retaliation; Americans with Disabilities Act; Title VII Discrimination; Reductions in Force; Personnel Training; Personnel Policies; Noncompetition and Non-Solicitation Agreements and Litigation; Negligent Hiring; Employment Defamation; Misrepresentation in Hiring; Fair Labor Standards Act; Fair Employment Practices; Executive Severance Contracts; Equal Employment Opportunity Law; Employment Arbitration; Employee Discipline; and Investigations.

Areas of Practice

• Civil Rights
• Age Discrimination
• Disability & Illness Discrimination
• Gay & Lesbian Rights
• National Origin Discrimination
• Race Discrimination
• Religious Discrimination
• Sex Discrimination
• Sexual Harassment
• Employment Law -- Employee
• Americans with Disabilities Act -- Employee
• Employee Rights -- Employee
• Employment Contracts -- Employee
• Employment Discrimination -- Employee
• Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) -- Employee
• Municipal Employment -- Employee
• Pensions, Benefits & Compensations -- Employee
• Sexual Harassment -- Employee
• Wage & Hour Laws -- Employee
• Whistleblower -- Employee
• Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act -- Employee
• Wrongful Termination -- Employee
• Employment Law -- Employer
• Americans with Disabilities Act -- Employer
• Employee Rights -- Employer
• Employment Contracts -- Employer
• Employment Discrimination -- Employer
• Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) -- Employer
• Municipal Employment -- Employer
• Pensions, Benefits & Compensations -- Employer
• Sexual Harassment -- Employer
• Wage & Hour Laws -- Employer
• Whistleblower -- Employer
• Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act -- Employer
• Wrongful Termination -- Employer
• Labor Law
• Litigation & Appeals
• Class Actions
• Federal Appellate Practice
• Federal Trial Practice
• State Appellate Practice
• State Trial Practice
• US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
• US Supreme Court

Honors and Awards

• Sayre MacNeil Scholar, Loyola of Los Angeles Law School (for Ranking within Top Five Percent of First-year Class), 1992 - 1994

Published Works

• "California Equal Employment Opportunity Law", California Business Law Deskbook 2007 Edition, Thompson-West
• "The California Supreme Court Shields Employers from Liability for Adverse Actions Against Medical Marijuana Users", Bender's California Labor & Employment Bulletin, Vol. 2008, No. 3, Sana Swe and Rishi N. Sharma, 2008
• "The California Supreme Court's Employment Law Docket Demonstrates, Yet Again, Just How Different California Employment Law Is From the Law in the Rest of the Country", Bender's California Labor and Employment Bulletin, Vol. 2008, No. 2, Sana Swe and Rishi N. Sharma, 2008

Representative Clients

• Investment Management
• Banking
• Biotechnology
• Manufacturing
• Aerospace
• Technology
• Retail
• Transportation
• Hospitals
• Restaurants

West Practice Categories

Civil Rights, Age Discrimination, Disability & Illness Discrimination, Gay & Lesbian Rights, National Origin Discrimination, Race Discrimination, Religious Discrimination, Sex Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, Employment Law -- Employee, Americans with Disabilities Act -- Employee, Employee Rights -- Employee, Employment Contracts -- Employee, Employment Discrimination -- Employee, Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) -- Employee, Municipal Employment -- Employee, Pensions, Benefits & Compensations -- Employee, Sexual Harassment -- Employee, Wage & Hour Laws -- Employee, Whistleblower -- Employee, Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act -- Employee, Wrongful Termination -- Employee, Employment Law -- Employer, Americans with Disabilities Act -- Employer, Employee Rights -- Employer, Employment Contracts -- Employer, Employment Discrimination -- Employer, Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) -- Employer, Municipal Employment -- Employer, Pensions, Benefits & Compensations -- Employer, Sexual Harassment -- Employer, Wage & Hour Laws -- Employer, Whistleblower -- Employer, Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act -- Employer, Wrongful Termination -- Employer, Labor Law, Litigation & Appeals, Class Actions, Federal Appellate Practice, Federal Trial Practice, State Appellate Practice, State Trial Practice, US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, US Supreme Court