San Diego’s Preeminent Employment Law Attorneys

Sanford Heisler Sharp is one of the premier plaintiffs-side employment law firms in San Diego. Our team practices on a national scale, serving clients in San Diego County and elsewhere throughout the United States. Our San Diego office has been in operation since 2015.

The San Diego business community is robust and diverse. San Diego is also home to many established and up-and-coming biotech, science, and pharmaceutical companies.

One of the bedrocks of our San Diego practice, led by Managing Partner Charles Field, is representing employees in class action lawsuits against companies that have mismanaged their retirement funds. These matters are brought under the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), which obligates employers to manage employee 401(k) plans with loyalty and fiscal prudence.

At Sanford Heisler Sharp we have the resources to go up against the biggest corporations in San Diego and throughout the country and have attorneys with unparalleled experience and credentials. We are a national firm, with seven offices located throughout the U.S and attorneys who collaborate closely.

As tenacious litigators who regularly handle high-profile cases, we have recovered judgments and settlements totaling millions of dollars.

Our Practice Areas

We support employees living and working in the San Diego area in cases related to social justice and the public interest. Our caseload has spanned a broad range of practice areas, including employment law, financial services, and human rights. Some of the cases we frequently handle include:

• Mismanagement of retirement plan assets
• Workplace discrimination
• Workplace retaliation
• Investment fraud
• Internal investigations
• Human trafficking

In our practice, we have litigated cases against some of the nation’s most powerful corporate entities, including UnitedHealth, Walgreens, General Electric, Transamerica and more. Our unwavering commitment to advocating for what is right and litigating these cases aggressively has earned us a nationwide reputation for integrity, excellence in representation and the ability to deliver results.

Meet Our Local Team

Our office in San Diego is staffed by four attorneys.

Managing Partner Charles Field is one of the nation’s leading ERISA lawyers and has spearheaded a number of groundbreaking cases against Fortune 500 companies for mismanagement of employees’ retirement plans, resulting in multimillion-dollar settlements.

Associate Cara Van Dorn specializes in cases involving discrimination, whistleblower retaliation, and wrongful termination. Part of the legal team that brought down GirlsDoPorn, Cara also represented 50 victims in a subsequent case against the company that operates the website Pornhub.com.

Associate Denise Choung specializes in financial services litigation. She previously completed a clerkship in the Fourth Judicial District Court of Minnesota. Denise was an arbitration intern at Herbert Smith Freehills in London and International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce in New York, focusing on international commercial arbitration.

Associate Bethel Habte specializes in civil rights cases involving issues of employment discrimination and harassment. She previously served as a law fellow with the National Education Association’s Office of General Counsel, gaining substantial experience in labor and employment and civil rights law.

On a case-by-case basis, Sanford Heisler Sharp also collaborates with Ed Chapin of the Frantz Law Group. Ed is a former partner at Sanford Heisler Sharp and a premier trial lawyer, having tried and arbitrated over 100 cases, including winning a 99-day human trafficking trial against the exploitative pornography scheme GirlsDoPorn in 2020. He has been a practicing attorney in San Diego for more than 40 years.

Office Location

The San Diego office of Sanford Heisler Sharp is located in the Bankers Hill neighborhood of downtown San Diego, within walking distance of the Pacific Ocean and near the San Diego Zoo and Balboa Park.

We share a building with Mister A’s — a landmark restaurant in San Diego that is located one floor above us. 

Notable Case Results

Our San Diego attorneys have represented clients in numerous complex, high-profile and precedent-setting cases. Just a few of these include:

• Burns v. San Diego State University: We won a $3.35 million judgment against San Diego State University on behalf of our client, Beth Burns. Burns had served as the women’s basketball coach for the college before it wrongfully terminated her and retaliated against her for reporting Title IX violations.
• Jane Does v. GirlsDoPorn: After a trial that lasted 99 days, we won a $13 million judgment for our clients – 22 women who GirlsDoPorn.com had manipulated and defrauded into participating in pornographic videos—as well as permanent injunctions against the defendants.
• Allegretti v. Walgreen Co.: In collaboration with our New York office, we recovered a settlement of $13.75 million in an ERISA class action lawsuit involving breach of fiduciary duty.
• Karg v. Transamerica: In collaboration with our Nashville office, we recovered a settlement of $5.4 million in an ERISA class action involving breach of fiduciary duty.

Valuable judgments and settlements mean nothing to us if we do not get to help our clients and serve the general public’s interests. We practice to make a difference, not to win accolades.

Covid-19 Protocols

We provide flexible scheduling outside of our standard office hours. In addition, we offer video conferencing and can make house calls in the San Diego area. If you do wish to come to our office, we have spacious meeting rooms, and mandatory masking policies are in place.

Discuss Our Outstanding Advocacy Today

Sanford Heisler Sharp is available to discuss the needs of prospective clients who are seeking skillful lawyers to protect their rights. To request an initial consultation, please visit our contact page.

Testimonial

“Great Value and Service”

Charles Field and Sanford Heisler Sharp have been excellent partners as our business has grown. They understand our firm and have helped us navigate the legal landscape in our industry. Charles is particularly responsive when we need him and is willing to bring in other resources to address our issues. Because of their efficiency and teamwork, we feel Sanford Heisler Sharp offers great value and service. — Horacio Valeiras, CEO, Frontier Global Partners, LLC