Austin Webbert, Associate

Austin Webbert

Senior Litigation Counsel

Austin Webbert is a Senior Litigation Counsel at Sanford Heisler Sharp.

At Sanford Heisler Sharp, Austin’s practice has focused on wage and hour, whistleblower/qui tam, public interest litigation, and employment discrimination matters, representing both individuals, groups, and classes. Working with a team of Sanford Heisler Sharp attorneys, Austin has represented clients including:

  • a group of workers with claims against an insurance company for wage and hour violations
  • a group of non-citizens challenging the legality of bond hearing policies and practices that would lead to their arbitrary detention
  • a whistleblower with claims of fraud in the real estate industry
  • a Silicon Valley executive with claims he was retaliated against for whistleblowing activity
  • a female commercial real estate executive with gender and race discrimination claims against her former employer and supervisor
  • a manager in the broadcasting industry with age and race discrimination claims against his former employer
  • a group of female attorneys challenging gender, race, and maternity discrimination
  • a class of female students with gender discrimination and tort claims against an Ivy League university
  • a female commercial real estate executive with gender and age discrimination and retaliation claims against her former employer
  • a female attorney with gender and national origin discrimination and breach of contract claims
  • an executive with claims she was terminated after making complaints of discrimination

Austin received his law degree from the University of Michigan Law School. He received his bachelor’s degree cum laude and with Honors from the University of Miami. While at the University of Michigan Law School, Austin was awarded an Equal Justice America Fellowship, served as an Executive Editor and published a comment with the Michigan Journal of Race and Law, and worked as a student attorney for the law school’s Civil-Criminal Litigation Clinic, Unemployment Insurance Clinic, and Environmental Law Clinic. While at the University of Miami, Austin was chosen for the Robert F. Levine Award for Excellence in Latin American Studies. He was also the co-founder of a student organization to advance educational opportunity in Haiti.

A member of the Maryland, District of Columbia, and Maine bars, Austin has co-authored an article that appeared in the Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law and Policy. Austin is also a member of the National Employment Lawyer’s Association.

Before joining Sanford Heisler Sharp, Austin was an Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps Legal Fellow at Land of Lincoln Legal Aid, where he gained significant experience in housing and consumer law.

When Austin is not lawyering, he enjoys hiking, especially in his home state of Maine, and traveling throughout Latin America, while often failing spectacularly at Salsa dancing.

Education

  • J.D., University of Michigan Law School
  • B.A., University of Miami, cum laude

Clinics

  • Unemployment Insurance Clinic at University of Michigan Law School
  • Environmental Law Clinic at University of Michigan Law School
  • Civil-Criminal Litigation Clinic at University of Michigan Law School

Bar Admissions

  • Maine, 2017
  • District of Columbia, 2019
  • Maryland, 2020

Court Admissions

  • U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland

Maryland Unconstitutional Immigration Detention Class Action

The complaint alleges that during bond hearings before the Baltimore Immigration Court, the government violates the constitutional rights of detainees when it requires that a detainee, rather than the government, bear the burden of proving that they are not a flight risk or a danger to the community in order to be freed.

Cushman & Wakefield Gender and Race Discrimination Suit

According to the Complaint, Ms. Urquhart-Bradley’s career advancement repeatedly faced discriminatory roadblocks despite her objectively outstanding performance.