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Emily S. McGrath

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Practice Areas:

  • Employment Discrimination Law
  • Employment law
  • Sexual Harassment
  • Wrongful Termination Law
  • Family and Medical Leave Claims
  • Defamation

Biography

Emily McGrath exclusively represents employees in trials and appeals, arbitrations, and negotiations against their employers. Since joining Barbara and Therese Lawless in 2013, Emily has fought on behalf of hundreds of clients. She is committed to providing compassionate counsel to those navigating a complicated legal system during a difficult period in their lives.

Emily has been selected as a Super Lawyers Rising Star (an honor awarded to no more than 2.5 percent of attorneys in California) each year since 2018. In addition, she serves on the Executive Committee of the Litigation and Solo/Small Firm sections of the Bar Association of San Francisco’s Barristers Club and actively contributes to other professional organizations such as the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association and the Lawyers Club of San Francisco Inn of Court. 

Before beginning her career as an employment litigator, Emily was a misdemeanor trial attorney at the San Francisco Public Defender's Office. Emily attended law school at University of California, Hastings College of the Law. While there, she served as an Executive Editor for the International and Comparative Law Review, a Constitutional Law teaching assistant, and a research assistant. Emily also externed with Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero and published an article on surrogacy contract regulations during her third year.

Before law school, Emily graduated from Princeton University with degrees in Intellectual & Cultural History, Neuroscience, and French. She worked as a news writer for the Daily Princetonian, an Emergency Medical Technician in a nearby town in New Jersey, and a Project Manager for an Engineers Without Borders team in Ethiopia. After finishing college, Emily worked as a translator and communications officer with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in the Democratic Republic of Congo for the year preceding law school.

Past Positions

  • San Francisco Public Defender's Office, Misdemeanor Attorney, 2013
  • Center for Genetics and Society, Staff Associate, 2011 to 2012
  • Chambers of Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero, Extern, 2011
  • Alameda County Superior Court, Pro Se Department, 2010

Education

  • University of California, Hastings College of the Law, San Francisco, California
    • J.D. - 2012
    • Honors: Appellate Advocacy Best Oralist, Nominee
    • Honors: Moot Court Best Brief, Honorable Mention
    • Honors: Pro Bono Society, Member
  • Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
    • B.A. - 2008
    • Honors: Cum Laude
    • Honors: Arthur Liman Public Interest Law Fellow
    • Honors: Recipient of the Stone/Davis Prize for History Thesis Research

Bar Admissions

  • California, 2013

Professional Associations

  • Bar Association of San Francisco
  • Lawyer’s Club of San Francisco Inn of Court
  • San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association

Languages

  • French

Published Works

  • Trying Cases in a Pandemic: The Pros and Cons, The Trial Lawyer, 2022
  • Voir Dire from the Masters, The Trial Lawyer, Spring 2021
  • Social Media Discovery: “Privacy” is a Pink Elephant, The Trial Lawyer, Winter 2020
  • Requests for Admission: The Important but Forgotten Stepchild of Discovery, The Trial Lawyer, 2017
  • What to do When the Big One Hits: E-Discovery and Document Dumps, Bar Association of San Francisco Bulletin, 2017

Classes and Seminars

  • Presenter, SFLPA – Disability and Workers Compensation: How Do They Impact Each Other?, July 2023
  • Presenter, California Applicants’ Attorneys Association, June 2023
  • Presenter, BASF – Employment Arbitrations: The Nuts and Bolts, March 2023
  • Presenter, BASF – The Future of Work is Hybrid: Special Considerations for the Remote Workplace, October 2022
  • Moderator, BASF – Executive Compensation, October 2021
  • Presenter, Becoming a Partner, Bar Association of San Francisco, July 2021
  • Moderator, Examined and Explained, Bar Association of San Francisco, April 2021
  • Moderator, Client Intake in Uncertain Times, San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association, April 2021
  • Presenter, The DIY Focus Group CLE, Bar Association of San Francisco, 2020
  • Moderator, Mediation Tips CLE with Justice Ruvolo, Mary Leichliter, and Rachel Ehrlich, San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association
  • Instructor, The Deposition Subpoena Process & The Paralegal, California Alliance of Paralegal Associations, June 2019
  • Presenter, How the #MeToo Movement Has Shaped the Law: SB 1300 and Beyond , San Francisco Legal Professionals Association, May 2019
  • Instructor, Discovery , San Francisco State University, Legal Professional Training Course, February 2018
  • Presenter, Fair Pay – Is It Really Here?, San Francisco Legal Professionals Association, October 2016