Jennifer Schwartz - Employment Lawyer San Francisco Bay Area CA

Wisdom: When we advocate for the rights of employees — whether negotiating, litigating, or strategizing — we rely on deep knowledge, vigor, and always, wisdom.

Jennifer Schwartz

About

JENNIFER SCHWARTZ is a partner at Outten & Golden LLP and heads the individuals representation practice in the San Francisco office. She represents employees exclusively in a wide range of employment matters, including litigation in state and federal trial courts, arbitration, before administrative agencies, and in appellate courts. 

Ms. Schwartz’s practice focuses on claims of wrongful termination, discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, and violation of state and federal wage and hour laws. She also represents whistleblowers and individuals who have experienced adverse employment action as a result of opposing illegal or unethical corporate practices. Her deep experience with discrimination and retaliation includes matters involving race, disability, ethnic origin and religious discrimination.  Her passion for advancing the cause of women in the workplace has given her the opportunity to represent an uncountable number of women – from the C-suite to the assembly line – in an effort to remediate all forms of gender discrimination. She also represents clients in contract disputes, commission and bonus claims.   

An experienced and hard-driving trial lawyer, Ms. Schwartz has litigated a wide variety of matters in court and arbitration.  She will leave no stone unturned in seeking a winning outcome.  

Despite her extensive litigation and arbitration experience, Ms. Schwartz often finds that, with appropriate counseling and negotiation, extensive litigation can be avoided. Ms. Schwartz frequently utilizes mediation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution in pursuit of the most favorable outcome for her clients.

Ms. Schwartz also handles a variety of professional and executive compensation and benefits matters, including the negotiation of employment, severance, restrictive covenant, confidentiality and trade secret agreements. She provides advice to founders, leadership team members and other employees and professionals at both “start ups” and established businesses relating to transactional matters, including employment and equity agreements, changes in control, and IPO’s.  .

Before joining Outten & Golden LLP, Ms. Schwartz managed her own firm in the San Francisco area, practicing in the areas of employment law and criminal defense. One of her career highlights was obtaining an acquittal at re-trial after appeal for a client wrongfully convicted of a homicide.

Ms. Schwartz has been rated regionally and nationally by Northern California Super Lawyers, Avvo, Center for Women in Law as a "Power Player", and San Francisco Magazine, Top Attorneys In Northern California.

Ms. Schwartz employs a highly client-centric approach, carefully considering all aspects of a client’s life and needs in helping develop and implement strategic decisions. She believes that every single client — without regard to position in life — deserves a dedicated, compassionate, and tenacious advocate.

(*Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.)

Videos

2016:

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Bar Admissions & Professional Activities

  • Ms. Schwartz is admitted to practice law only in New York and California.

  • Ms. Schwartz is admitted to the following federal courts: The United States District Court for the Northern District of California, the Eastern District of California; and the Central District of California; and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

  • Co-Chair, Labor & Employment Section, Marin County Bar Association, 2021

  • President of the Board of Directors, Marin Trial Lawyers Association, 2020-21

  • FINRA arbitrator, selected to serve on the Criminal Justice Act Trial Panel for the Northern District of California.

  • Board of Directors, Marin Trial Lawyers Association

  • Member, Litigation Committee, Equal Rights Advocates

  • Member, American Bar Association, Labor & Employment section

  • Member, National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA)

  • Member, California Employment Lawyers Association (CELA)

  • Member, California State Bar, Labor & Employment section

  • Member, San Francisco Bar Association, Labor & Employment section

  • Member, Marin County Bar Association, Labor & Employment section

  • Member, CABAL (Northern California’s subgroup of the Plaintiff’s Employment Lawyer’s Association).  Served as CABAL’s liaison to the NELA annual conference on two occasions.

  • Honorary Steering Committee for the 2022 Equal Right’s Advocates Gala

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Videos

Outten & Golden LLP partner Jenny Schwartz discusses importance of protecting employee rights

San Francisco partner Jennifer Schwartz discusses the firm's Individual Practice Group and protecting the rights of employees.

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Speaking Engagements

2019

  • Speaker: "Sex Discrimination, Sexual Orientation, And Gender Identity," NELA 2019 Annual Convention, New Orleans, LA
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Publications & Articles

While the COVID-19 coronavirus continues to pose a health risk across the U.S., Governor Gavin Newsom plans to reopen the California economy in four...

"U.S.A.! Equal Pay! Equal Pay!" These chants from the crowd after the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (USWNT) won the World Cup became the rallying...

Being the subject of malicious gossip or innuendo in the workplace can sabotage your relationships with coworkers and impede your career prospects...

Two years ago, when Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced he was taking paternity leave to spend time with his wife and newborn daughter...

By now, we are all aware of former Google employee James Damore's internally published manifesto complaining of a company culture of shaming that...

Sterling Jewelers, Inc., the parent company of Jared the Galleria of Jewelry and Kay Jewelers, is facing explosive allegations - and a national class...

Women often find themselves in a workplace culture dominated by traditionally male values, approaches to work, and ways of measuring success. To be...

The #MeToo movement isn’t only about revealing abusive conduct by Hollywood moguls and television celebrities. Empowered in part by the strength of...

Gaming is big business. Often, it is also a cesspool of misogyny, assault, sexual harassment, and discrimination. As detailed in a recent New York...

The current chaos in our lives includes a pandemic that has put over twenty million people out of work and the seemingly unceasing killing of Black...

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Awards & Recognition

  • 2021-2022: Best Lawyers: Employment Law - Individuals and Litigation - Labor and Employment

  • 2014-2021: Northern California Super Lawyers

  • 2021: Lawdragon 500 Plaintiff Employment Lawyers

  • 2016, 2019: Northern California Women's Edition Super Lawyers

  • 2014-2018: San Francisco Magazine, Top Attorneys In Northern California

  • 2018: Ms. Schwartz was recognized by the Center for Women in Law as a “Power Player.”

  • 2014, 2016 and 2017: San Francisco Magazine, Top Women Attorneys In Northern California

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