10 Best Employment Lawyers in Costa Mesa, CA

This guide covers 10 employment lawyers and firms serving Costa Mesa and the surrounding Orange County communities, including firms based in Costa Mesa, Irvine, Newport Beach, and Huntington Beach and Los Angeles-area firms that regularly handle Orange County cases. Most represent employees in wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and wage and hour claims, and two represent employers facing those claims. We evaluated each firm on its depth of experience with California-specific law, including the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), the Labor Code, and the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), its documented trial and settlement results, relevant prior experience such as defense-side work or federal court clerkships, and whether employment law is the firm’s core practice or one area among several.

When comparing options, ask three practical questions. First, which side does the firm represent? Employee-side firms usually work on contingency, while employer-side firms bill hourly and focus on compliance and defense. Second, has the attorney handled your specific type of claim, such as a disability accommodation case, an unpaid overtime class action, or a whistleblower retaliation claim? Third, will the firm handle the steps that come before a lawsuit, including a Civil Rights Department complaint, a Labor Commissioner wage claim, or a PAGA notice, and how does it approach cases covered by an arbitration agreement? This list is not ranked and not sponsored.

Firm details come from each firm’s own website, cross-checked against attorney directories including Super Lawyers, Avvo, and Justia.

1. California Employment Counsel, APC

• Attorney/Key Figure: Raymond E. Hane III, Founding Attorney; Nicholas A. Hane, Trial Counsel
• Headquarters: 555 Anton Blvd., Suite 150, Costa Mesa, CA 92626
• Phone: (714) 462-8376
• Website: employment-counsel.com
• Practice Areas: Sexual Harassment, Workplace Harassment, Discrimination (Pregnancy, Race, Medical Condition), Wrongful Termination, Wage and Overtime Violations, Whistleblower Protection, Medical Leave Discrimination
• Firm Size: Employee-side employment firm based in Costa Mesa with a team of trial attorneys and associates

About the Firm: California Employment Counsel is a Costa Mesa employment firm on Anton Boulevard that represents employees only, led by founding attorney Raymond E. Hane III and trial counsel Nicholas A. Hane. The firm has focused on sexual harassment, discrimination, and wage violations for years, and it has a track record of taking cases to verdict against large employers.

Its reported results include a $2.94 million jury verdict against Amazon in a pregnancy discrimination case, a $700,000 jury verdict in a race discrimination case, and sexual harassment settlements of $1.03 million against an aerospace company and $1 million against a transportation company. The firm works on contingency. Its website offers limited detail on individual attorney backgrounds compared with some other firms on this list.

2. Thaler Law

• Attorney/Key Figure: Jesse J. Thaler, Founder
• Headquarters: 17011 Beach Blvd., 9th Floor, Huntington Beach, CA 92647
• Phone: (714) 869-2900
• Website: thalerlaw.pro
• Practice Areas: Discrimination and Sexual Harassment Defense, Class Action Defense, Business Litigation, Civil Litigation, Corporate Counsel, Contract Drafting and Review, Business Formation and Corporate Compliance, Real Estate Litigation
• Firm Size: Orange County business litigation firm founded in 2011; represents employers

About the Firm: Jesse J. Thaler founded his Huntington Beach firm in 2011 and has more than 14 years of experience in business and civil litigation. For Orange County employers, the firm defends against discrimination and sexual harassment claims and class actions, which in California frequently take the form of wage and hour class and PAGA representative actions.

Thaler Law works as outside counsel for businesses that do not have in-house lawyers, so it can pair employment defense with the contract, corporate compliance, and business litigation work that growing companies need. Its as-needed model gives small and mid-size employers access to litigation counsel when a claim arrives without paying for a full-time legal department, and the firm serves clients across California from its Beach Boulevard office.

3. Shirazi Law Firm, P.C.

• Attorney/Key Figure: Emanuel Shirazi, Founder
• Headquarters: 9454 Wilshire Blvd., Penthouse, Beverly Hills, CA 90212
• Phone: (310) 400-5891
• Website: shirazilawfirm.com
• Practice Areas: Disability Discrimination, Pregnancy Discrimination, Medical and FMLA/CFRA Leave Retaliation, Failure to Accommodate, Wrongful Termination (including Executive-Level), Sexual Harassment, Workplace Discrimination, Hostile Work Environment, Whistleblower Retaliation (including Medical Whistleblowers), Wage and Hour, Employee Misclassification, Failure to Reimburse Expenses
• Firm Size: Boutique firm; founder has more than 20 years of employment law experience, including as a partner at national employment defense firms

About the Firm: Emanuel Shirazi spent the first part of his career as a partner at major national employment law firms defending employers, and he now represents employees exclusively. That background gives him an inside view of how corporate defense teams evaluate claims, prepare witnesses, and decide when to settle. He has tried almost a dozen cases and has presented on trial practice to the Los Angeles County Bar Association.

The firm reports more than $100 million in verdicts and settlements, with recent results including $2.4 million for an employer’s failure to provide medical leave, $2.1 million in a disability discrimination case, and $1.6 million in a pregnancy discrimination case. Its focus on medical leave, accommodation, and medical whistleblower claims is especially relevant in Orange County’s large healthcare sector. Clients work directly with Shirazi, and the firm handles cases on contingency.

4. Nosrati Law, APLC

• Attorney/Key Figure: Omid Nosrati, Founder
• Headquarters: 1801 Century Park East, Suite 840, Los Angeles, CA 90067
• Phone: (323) 784-0643
• Website: nosratilaw.com
• Practice Areas: Wrongful Termination, Sexual Harassment, Discrimination (Age, Disability, Race, Gender, Pregnancy, Religion, National Origin, Sexual Orientation), Retaliation, Whistleblower Protection, Wage and Hour Disputes, FMLA Violations, Hostile Work Environment, Class Actions
• Firm Size: Boutique employment firm (5 attorneys); founder has practiced since 2001

About the Firm: Omid Nosrati has represented employees for more than 25 years and founded Nosrati Law to focus on workers challenging unlawful conduct by their employers. The firm has taken on well-known employers, with matters involving Disney (sexual orientation discrimination), Robinhood (gender discrimination and whistleblower retaliation), and Netflix (gender bias and sexual harassment). He has been selected to Super Lawyers every year from 2018 through 2026 and holds a 10.0 Avvo rating.

The firm’s reported results include $1.65 million, $1.5 million, and $1.1 million recoveries in whistleblower retaliation cases and a $1.45 million wage and hour class action settlement. Nosrati Law represents employees throughout Orange County, including Irvine, Santa Ana, Anaheim, and Huntington Beach, works on contingency, and offers services in Farsi.

5. Aitken Campbell Heikaus Weaver, LLP

• Attorney/Key Figure: Lindsey Aitken, Managing Partner; Darren J. Campbell and Chris Heikaus Weaver, Partners
• Headquarters: 2030 Main St., Suite 1300, Irvine, CA 92614 (additional offices in Anaheim and Riverside)
• Phone: (949) 236-4626
• Website: achwlaw.com
• Practice Areas: Sexual Harassment, Workplace Discrimination, Disability Discrimination, Wrongful Termination, Workplace Retaliation, Whistleblower Claims, Wage and Hour, Equal Pay Act Claims, Non-Compete Agreements, FBOR and POBRA (Firefighters’ and Public Safety Officers’ Bill of Rights)
• Firm Size: Orange County employee-side firm (3 partners) with more than 40 years of combined experience

About the Firm: Aitken Campbell Heikaus Weaver is an Irvine-based employment firm whose partners bring experience from both sides of the courtroom. Partner Darren J. Campbell spent the first seven years of his career defending employers before moving to employee representation. Partner Chris Heikaus Weaver graduated first in his class at UC Davis School of Law, clerked for Judge David F. Levi of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, and has more than 20 years of employment law experience. Managing partner Lindsey Aitken serves on the board of the Orange County Trial Lawyers Association.

The firm has a distinctive public safety practice representing firefighters and peace officers under California’s Firefighters Procedural Bill of Rights Act (FBOR) and Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights Act (POBRA). Its reported results include a $900,000 settlement for denied profit sharing and retaliation, a $795,000 settlement for age, sex, and race discrimination, and a $500,000 settlement for retaliation and wrongful termination. It litigates in both state and federal court and works on a no-fee-unless-we-win basis.

6. Engels O’Brien

• Attorney/Key Figure: Christopher M. Engels and Sarah K. O’Brien, Attorneys
• Headquarters: 2900 Bristol St., Suite G205, Costa Mesa, CA 92626
• Phone: (949) 269-7709
• Website: engels-obrien.com
• Practice Areas: Employment and Wage and Hour Law (Discrimination, Harassment, Wrongful Termination, Retaliation, Misclassification, Employer Compliance and Defense), Construction Labor and Employment Issues, OSHA Workplace Safety Compliance, Business and Civil Litigation, Construction Law, Family Law, Estate Planning
• Firm Size: Two-attorney Costa Mesa firm with more than 15 years of combined experience; formerly Engels-Janzen
• Practice Area Page: Costa Mesa Employment Lawyer
• Social Profiles: Facebook, LinkedIn

About the Firm: Engels O’Brien is one of the few firms on this list headquartered in Costa Mesa itself, on Bristol Street near South Coast Plaza. The firm represents both employees and employers, and its attorneys bring more than 15 years of combined experience from both sides of the courtroom. Attorney Christopher M. Engels was named a Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2022.

For employees, the firm handles discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination, retaliation, misclassification, and wage and hour claims. For employers, it provides compliance counseling, litigation defense, and settlement negotiation. Its construction practice gives it a particular niche in construction labor and employment issues and OSHA workplace safety compliance, which matters for Orange County contractors and the workers they employ. Clients work directly with their attorney, and consultations are free.

7. Park APC

• Attorney/Key Figure: Sang (James) Park, Principal
• Headquarters: 8383 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 800, Beverly Hills, CA 90211
• Phone: (310) 627-2964
• Website: park-lawyers.com
• Practice Areas: Wage and Hour (Overtime, Meal and Rest Breaks, Minimum Wage, Improper Deductions, Tip Splitting, Commissions, Piece Rate), Employee Misclassification, Wrongful Termination, Discrimination, Family and Medical Leave Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, Whistleblower Claims, Hostile Work Environment
• Firm Size: Boutique employment firm; founder has class action settlements of up to $10 million

About the Firm: Sang Park worked at both defense and plaintiff firms, practicing insurance litigation, consumer protection, and class actions, before founding Park APC to represent employees. He has tried employment cases to verdict and argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the California Court of Appeal. He is a graduate of the California Employment Lawyers Association’s Trial College and serves on CELA’s Arbitration Committee.

Park’s class and representative action results include a $10 million settlement for employees of a nationwide retailer, $3.4 million for drivers of a national transportation company, and $2.2 million against an airline services company, and he has won class certification in cases involving more than a thousand employees. The firm represents employees throughout California, including Orange County, with free case evaluations and no upfront costs.

8. The Law Office of Briana Kim

• Attorney/Key Figure: Briana M. Kim, Founder and Principal
• Headquarters: 249 E. Ocean Blvd., Suite 814, Long Beach, CA 90802 (additional office at 6 Centerpointe Dr., Suite 700, La Palma, CA 90623)
• Phone: (714) 482-6301
• Website: wagerecoveryqueen.com
• Practice Areas: Wage and Hour (Unpaid Wages, Overtime, Prevailing Wages, PAGA Claims), Wrongful Termination, Retaliation, Sexual Harassment, Disability, Pregnancy, Gender, and Sexual Orientation Discrimination, FMLA and Leave of Absence, Employee Misclassification, Equal Pay and Pay Transparency, Severance, Whistleblower Claims
• Firm Size: Employee-side employment firm with an Orange County office in La Palma; founder is fluent in Korean

About the Firm: Briana M. Kim built her career in employee-side employment litigation, including work at Jose Garay, APLC, a class action firm in Irvine, and the Law Offices of Joseph M. Lovretovich, before founding her own practice. She also clerked in the EEOC’s Hearings Unit, giving her early exposure to how federal discrimination charges are evaluated. The firm operates under the “Wage Recovery Queen” brand, reflecting its depth in wage and hour cases.

Her reported results include wage and hour class action settlements of $2.425 million, $1.6 million, and $1.4 million, disability discrimination recoveries of $1 million and $600,000, and a $400,000 sexual harassment jury verdict. Kim is fluent in Korean, which is a real advantage for workers in Orange County’s large Korean-American community, and her La Palma office puts the firm within easy reach of north Orange County.

9. WHGC, P.L.C.

• Headquarters: 1301 Dove St., Suite 1050, Newport Beach, CA 92660
• Phone: (949) 833-8483
• Website: whgclaw.com
• Practice Areas: Employment Law for Employers (Hiring and Termination, Discrimination Defense, Wage and Hour Compliance, Family Leave, Pay Equity, Disability Accommodation, Trade Secret Protection), Immigration Law, Intellectual Property, International Business, Litigation and Appeals, Real Estate, Tax, Estate Planning
• Firm Size: Newport Beach business law firm founded in 1994; U.S. News & World Report Best Law Firms (2018 to 2020)

About the Firm: WHGC has served Orange County businesses from its Newport Beach office since 1994, and its employment practice represents employers exclusively. The firm works with growing companies that have moved past the startup phase but are not large enough to employ in-house counsel, helping them navigate what it describes as some of the toughest employment laws in the nation.

Its approach centers on education, prevention, and response: seminars and policy development to keep employers compliant with California wage and hour, leave, pay equity, and accommodation rules, and rapid strategy when a claim or lawsuit arrives. WHGC’s pairing of employment and immigration law is unusual and practical for Orange County companies that hire foreign workers on employment-based visas, and its intellectual property group supports trade secret protection when employees leave for competitors.

10.  Canlas Law Group, APLC

• Attorney/Key Figure: Christopher J. Canlas, President
• Headquarters: 18000 Studebaker Rd., Suite 700, Cerritos, CA 90703 (additional office in Oceano, CA)
• Phone: (323) 888-4325
• Website: canlaslaw.com
• Practice Areas: Employment Law (Discrimination, Retaliation, Wrongful Termination, Wage and Hour), Workers’ Compensation (Cumulative and Repetitive Injury, Permanent and Stationary Disability, Workplace Stroke, Silicosis), Social Security Disability, Personal Injury, Wrongful Death
• Firm Size: Multi-attorney worker-side firm; more than $100 million recovered for clients

About the Firm: Christopher J. Canlas has practiced since 2006 and leads a firm built entirely around workers, representing employees in discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination, and wage and hour cases alongside workers’ compensation and disability claims. He is a member of the California Employment Lawyers Association and the California Applicant Attorneys Association, and the firm reports more than $100 million recovered for clients.

That combination is valuable for injured workers in Orange County, since a workplace injury often leads to both a workers’ compensation claim and an employment claim, for example when an employer fires someone for taking medical leave or fails to accommodate a disability after an injury. Canlas Law Group can handle both sides of that situation in one office. The firm serves Orange County cities including Santa Ana, Huntington Beach, Garden Grove, Anaheim, and Orange, works on contingency, and offers services in Spanish.

Costa Mesa, CA Employment Resources

• California Labor Commissioner’s Office, Santa Ana District Office: 2 MacArthur Place, Suite 800, Santa Ana, the closest district office for Costa Mesa workers filing wage claims. Phone: (714) 558-4910.
• California Civil Rights Department (CRD): The state agency that accepts and investigates employment discrimination, harassment, and retaliation complaints under FEHA and issues Right-to-Sue notices.
• U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Los Angeles District Office: 255 E. Temple St., Los Angeles, which handles federal discrimination charges for Orange County employees.
• Orange County Superior Court, Central Justice Center: 700 Civic Center Drive West, Santa Ana, the courthouse that hears unlimited civil cases, including employment lawsuits, from across Orange County. Phone: (657) 622-6878.
• U.S. District Court, Central District of California (Southern Division): The federal court in Santa Ana that hears federal employment claims arising in Orange County.
• Legal Aid at Work: A nonprofit that provides free information about California workplace rights to eligible low-income workers, with services in many languages. Workers outside its clinic cities can call (415) 404-9093.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is California an at-will employment state?

Yes. Under California Labor Code § 2922, most employment is at will, so an employer can end the relationship without cause. A termination is still unlawful if it is based on a protected characteristic such as race, age, disability, pregnancy, or sexual orientation, if it is retaliation for protected activity such as reporting harassment, taking protected medical leave, or complaining about unpaid wages, or if it breaches an employment contract. Firms such as Shirazi Law Firm and California Employment Counsel handle wrongful termination claims of this kind.

How long do I have to file an employment claim in California?

It depends on the claim. FEHA discrimination, harassment, and retaliation complaints generally must be filed with the Civil Rights Department within three years, followed by a lawsuit within one year of receiving a Right-to-Sue notice. Most Labor Code wage claims carry a three-year limit, and federal EEOC charges generally must be filed within 300 days in California. Because different claims in the same case can carry different deadlines, it is worth speaking with an employment lawyer soon after a termination or other adverse action.

How much does an employment lawyer in Costa Mesa cost?

Employee-side employment lawyers almost always work on contingency, meaning they are paid a percentage of any recovery and nothing if there is none. Canlas Law Group, Aitken Campbell Heikaus Weaver, and Nosrati Law all describe contingency or no-fee-unless-we-win arrangements. Employer-side firms such as WHGC and Thaler Law typically bill hourly for compliance advice and litigation defense. Under FEHA, a prevailing employee can also recover reasonable attorney’s fees from the employer.

I am an employer facing a claim. What should I do first?

Preserve all relevant records, including personnel files, payroll and timekeeping data, emails, and texts, and avoid any action that could look like retaliation against the employee who complained. Many claims begin with a demand letter, a Civil Rights Department complaint, or a PAGA notice sent to the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, and each has its own response timeline. Orange County employers can work with employer-side counsel such as WHGC, Thaler Law, or Engels O’Brien, which represents both employers and employees.

Should I file a wage claim with the Labor Commissioner or hire a lawyer?

A Labor Commissioner wage claim through the Santa Ana District Office is free and works well for a straightforward unpaid wage or final paycheck dispute. A lawyer adds value when the case involves misclassification, many affected employees (a class or PAGA action), retaliation for complaining about pay, or damages beyond wages. Briana Kim and Park APC both have significant wage and hour class action experience.

Should I choose an Orange County firm or a Los Angeles firm?

Employment cases are handled largely through documents, depositions, and mediation, so a firm does not need to be in Costa Mesa to represent you well, and several Los Angeles firms on this list regularly handle Orange County cases. Local firms such as Engels O’Brien and California Employment Counsel in Costa Mesa, and Aitken Campbell Heikaus Weaver in Irvine, make in-person meetings easier and appear regularly in Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana. Larger or more specialized firms may bring class action depth or defense-side insight that matters in complex cases.

Disclaimer: For informational purposes only. This is not legal advice or a sponsored directory. Inclusion of any Costa Mesa employment law firm does not constitute an endorsement. Always verify credentials and consult directly with a licensed professional regarding your workplace rights before hiring counsel.