Laura McHugh

Biography

Laura McHugh, a senior partner at women-owned Duggan McHugh Law Corporation, has been representing employers in employment and labor law matters for over 25 years. As a strategic litigator, Laura collaborates closely with clients to deliver cost-efficient and effective solutions, whether through aggressive litigation or practical, day-to-day guidance on workplace issues including discrimination, harassment, retaliation, leaves of absence, disability accommodation, wage and hour, union-management relations, and the Private Attorney General Act (PAGA). She has successfully tried individual and class actions and argued before the California Supreme Court and Third District Court of Appeal, obtaining precedential, published decisions.

Laura is AV Preeminent® rated by Martindale-Hubbell® and has received numerous recognitions, including Top 50 Women Northern California Super Lawyers®, Top 25: Sacramento Super Lawyers®, Top 100: Northern California Super Lawyers®, Northern California Best Lawyers, Sacramento Magazine Top Lawyers, and Sacramento Business Journal’s Best of the Bar.

Laura graduated magna cum laude from University of California at Santa Barbara and then worked in corporate human resources for a large bank in Los Angeles. During law school, she was an editor for Santa Clara Law Review and externed for Justice Gerome Smith of the California Court of Appeal in San Francisco.

Laura is honored to serve as First Vice President for the Association of Defense Counsel of Northern California and Nevada and chair of its Employment Law Committee, as well as on the board of FosterHope Sacramento.

In her free time, Laura enjoys her family, her dogs, traveling, and an occasional hack at the golf ball.

Education

• Santa Clara University School of Law, Santa Clara, California
  • Editor, Santa Clara Law Review
  • Judicial Extern, Justice Gerome Smith, California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District
• University of California at Santa Barbara
  • magna cum laude
  • Senior Honors Program

Bar Admissions

• Supreme Court of the United States of America
• California
• U.S. District Court Central District of California
• U.S. District Court Eastern District of California
• U.S. District Court Northern District of California
• U.S. Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit
• U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, pro hac vice
• U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii, pro hac vice

Honors

• AV Preeminent® rated by Martindale-Hubbell®
• Northern California Super Lawyers | Top 25 Sacramento Attorneys | Top 50 Women Attorneys in Northern California
• Best of the Bar, Sacramento Business Journal
• Top Lawyers, Sacramento Magazine
• Lawyers of Distinction, Top 10% Employment and Labor Law Attorneys

Professional Associations

• Association of Defense Counsel of Northern California and Nevada, First Vice President and Chairperson – Employment Law Committee
• Defense Research Institute, Member
• Gordon D. Schaber, Mock Trial and Moot Court Volunteer Judge
• Sacramento Professional Advisors Network
• Sacramento County Bar Association, Labor and Employment Section
• University of California, Santa Barbara, Communications Alumni Council, Founding Member
• Women Lawyers of Sacramento
• Presiding Judge Civil Advisory Committee, Sacramento County Superior Court
• FosterHope Sacramento, Board Member

Published Decisions

• Paratransit Inc. v. Unemployment Ins. Appeals Bd. (2014) 59 Cal.4th 551
• Kirby v. Immoos Fire Protection, Inc. (2012) 53 Cal.4th 1244
• Valley Slurry Seal Co., 343 NLRB 233 (2004)
• Paratransit, Inc. (ATU, Local 256) (2002) 116 LA 1448
• Gawlik, et al. v. Diogenes Youth Services, Inc. (Arb. 2002) 2002 LA Supp. 109807
• Taylor v. ScottPolar Corp., 995 F.Supp. 1072 (D. Ariz. 1998)