Laura Reathaford is Partner in Charge of Lathrop GPM’s Los Angeles office and leads the firm’s California Employment practice, providing labor and employment legal services to the firm’s California-based clients and clients with California-based employees. She focuses her practice on wage and hour class and collective actions with a particular emphasis on representative actions under California’s Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”).
In addition to defending employers in high-stakes litigation matters, Laura regularly advises clients on employment issues, including terminating employees, drafting employee handbooks and complying with California and federal wage and hour laws, as well as leave and disability rules. Laura’s successes include defeating class certification in various wage and hour class actions, narrowing the scope of PAGA representative actions during discovery and at trial, obtaining summary judgment, representing management against union grievances and litigating a variety of other employment disputes, including claims for wrongful termination, sexual harassment, whistleblower retaliation, and discrimination.
In addition to her recognition by Benchmark Litigation as a Labor & Employment Star, the Los Angeles’ Daily Journal named Laura among the “Top 100 Women Lawyers.” Laura is a Chambers USA-ranked attorney for labor & employment in California. Earlier in 2024, she was awarded two honors by the Los Angeles Business Journal – Women of Influence and Leaders of Influence: Litigators & Trial Attorneys. The LABJ also honored Laura with its “Women’s Leadership Award” in 2023 and its “Top Women Attorneys in Los Angeles” award in 2020.
Laura is a prolific author on employment and labor industry related matters and her articles are frequently published in leading legal publications, including her feature article, “PAGA Performance,” which appeared on the cover of Los Angeles Lawyer magazine in July 2016. Laura was featured in an Attorney of the Month profile by Attorney at Law in 2021 and in 2023, she and she has been quoted by or featured in Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Law.com, WorldatWork, the Los Angeles Business Journal and Law360.
Updated Sep 2024
