General Information
Year founded:
2004
This is the year the firm (or its earliest predecessor entity) was founded.
Overview
Content is provided by the firm.
Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, LLP is a nationwide litigation law firm with offices in New York, Washington, DC, Palo Alto, San Francisco, San Diego, and Nashville. We represent individuals against powerful interests. We act as a private attorney general in support of the private and public good.
Our attorneys have obtained excellent outcomes across the United States representing C-Suite executives, attorneys (including general counsel, partners, and associates), and directors and managers seeking to resolve contract and employment disputes with their employers. Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, LLP has also achieved great results across the country representing employees with claims involving discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual assault, and wage and hour violations and representing individuals in whistleblowing, False Claims Act (qui tam), consumer fraud, financial elder abuse, 401(k) (ERISA), Dodd-Frank, SEC whistleblower, and medical malpractice matters.
Our Firm has an impressive history of success. Our team of skilled attorneys secured the largest jury award in an employment discrimination case, winning more than $250 million for 7,000 female sales representatives. The firm also achieved a $99 million wage and hour recovery on behalf of pharmaceutical representatives and represented a whistleblower in a $120 million qui tam case against Omnicare.
We know that injustice often harms the people who can least afford it. By handling most of our cases on a contingency fee basis, Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight provides our clients with equal access to legal representation. We level the playing field so that your voice is heard.
Firm News
August 13, 2021
Xilinx Hit with $365 Million Lawsuit filed by Sanford Heisler Sharp & Fitzgerald Knaier
August 4, 2021
Vaccine Mandates Are Trending Across Biglaw Firms
July 13, 2021
Sanford Heisler Sharp Files Motion For Summary Judgment Against Home Depot For Mismanagement Of Its 401k Plan
June 23, 2021
Sanford Heisler Sharp Announces $5.4 Million Settlement with Transamerica in ERISA Class Action
May 21, 2021
Sanford Heisler Sharp Partner Saba Bireda Reappointed To DC Bar Rules Of Professional Conduct Review Committee
February 23, 2021
Sanford Heisler Sharp Files Suit Against Baltimore Apartment Complex and Property Management Company
February 8, 2021
Humana And Roche Settle False Claims Act Lawsuit For $12.5 Million
January 8, 2021
Sanford Heisler Sharp Announces Approval Of $7.75 Million Settlement in Western Digital Gender Discrimination Class and Collective Action
December 16, 2020
Sanford Heisler Sharp Announces Ten Promotions For 2021
November 2, 2020
Sanford Heisler Sharp Ranked By Benchmark Litigation as National “Top Tier” Firm in Labor & Employment
October 21, 2020
Eleven Sanford Heisler Sharp Lawyers Included in 2020 Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Plaintiff Employment Lawyers
September 4, 2020
Sanford Heisler Sharp Honored with CAIR 2020 Impacting Justice Award
Rankings
Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, LLP is metro ranked in 3 practice areas. Best Law Firms rankings are based on a rigorous evaluation process.
Read how Best Law Firms ranks firmsMetro Rankings
Nashville
Tier 2 for Employment Law - Individuals
New York City
Tier 1 for Employment Law - Individuals
San Diego
Tier 3 for Securities / Capital Markets Law
San Francisco
Tier 2 for Employment Law - Individuals
Tier 2 for Litigation - Labor and Employment
Firm Leadership
About Our Clients
At Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, we represent individuals and help them succeed against large organizations. Our attorneys handle a range of practice areas for our clients, including employment discrimination, wage and hour violations, whistleblower and qui, predatory lending, consumer fraud, financial services litigation, public interest litigation, and more. Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight provides high-quality legal representation to those harmed by the actions of powerful organizations and companies to ensure that they have an opportunity to get help for the injustices they've faced.
Highlighted Client Comments
All client comments represent the opinions of the people who provided them. All potential clients are urged to remember that no two cases are ever completely alike and that the result in one case does not guarantee a similar result in another case.
Litigation - Labor and Employment
David Sanford of Sanford Heisler Sharp is one of the most brilliant labor attorneys in the nation. His knowledge and expertise exceed the highest expectations.
Litigation - Labor and Employment
Finding a knowledgeable, passionate and dedicated team of lawyers is very difficult, and after a long search, I was very lucky to find the team at Sanford Heisler Sharp. While working with them, I have witnessed and benefited from their deep dedication to solving the issues their clients face, willingness to dedicate resources to difficult cases, and striving to reach equitable solutions. Thanks to them I continue to work in the industry that I love, and partly thanks to them, the industry is undergoing a discussion of how women and minorities are perceived and treated. I cannot recommend Sanford Heisler Sharp more strongly.
Employment Law - Individuals
Sanford Heisler Sharp is the absolute best. David Sanford and Deborah Marcuse are much more than advocates; they are amazing.
Litigation - Labor and Employment
Legal reform is only one way to address labor related issues, but within that domain, SHS is as good as they come. They do their best to represent people, and not just plaintiffs.
Vassiki Chauhan
Rankings
Regional Rankings
Nashville
Tier 2 for Employment Law - Individuals
New York City
Tier 1 for Employment Law - Individuals
San Diego
Tier 3 for Securities / Capital Markets Law
San Francisco
Tier 2 for Employment Law - Individuals
Tier 2 for Litigation - Labor and Employment
Washington, D.C.
Tier 2 for Employment Law - Individuals
Tier 2 for Litigation - Labor and Employment
Practice Areas
The below are areas of legal specialty volunteered by the firm and do not designate a specialty in which a Best Law Firms ranking is held.
- Civil Rights
- Civil Rights Law
- Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law
- Employment Law - Individuals
- Employment Law - Management
- Labor and Employment Law - Employee
- Litigation - ERISA
- Litigation - Labor and Employment
- Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Plaintiffs
- Qui Tam Law
- Qui Tam/False Claims Act
Individuals Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America®
Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, LLP has 7 lawyers recognized for individual performance in the 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in
America®.
By receiving this Best Lawyers recognition from their peers for their professional excellence, these lawyers made Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, LLP eligible for evaluation for Best Law Firms rankings.
For almost two decades, Best Lawyers has awarded these singular accolades, making them the foundation of our Best Law Firms awards.
Read more about our Best Lawyers process here.
{{ practiceAreaName }}
{{ lawyer.FirstName[0] }}{{ lawyer.LastName[0] }}
![]()
{{ lawyer.FirstName[0] }}{{ lawyer.LastName[0] }}
{{ lawyer.Locations[0].City }}{{lawyer.Locations[0].StateCode ? ', ' + lawyer.Locations[0].StateCode : '' }}
Client Comments
All client comments represent the opinions of the people who provided them. All potential clients are urged to remember that no two cases are ever completely alike and that the result in one case does not guarantee a similar result in another case.
{{ comment.ClientFullName + (comment.ClientTitle ? ", " : "") }}
{{ comment.ClientTitle }}
– {{ comment.ClientCompanyName }}
Awards
Awards are self-reported by firms and are not verified by the Best Law Firms rankings.
- Benchmark Litigation - 2021 and 2020 Labor & Employment Employee-Side Firm of the Year
- National Law Journal - 2022 Elite Trial Lawyers’ Civil Rights Firm of the Year
- National Law Journal - 2021 Elite Trial Lawyers’ Human Rights Firm of the Year
- National Law Journal - 2021 Elite Trial Lawyers’ Employment Rights Firm of the Year
- Best Law Firms 2021 - U.S. News & World Report ranked Sanford Heisler Sharp, LLP nationally for its ERISA Litigation practice. It also ranked the firm in 8 metro ranking categories.
- Chambers & Partners - Ranked in USA in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020.
- Benchmark Litigation - Ranked nationwide and in five locations for Labor and Employment by Benchmark Litigation in 2020.
- Sanford Heisler Sharp was named one of the 50 best companies to watch in 2020 by Silicon Review.
- Best Law Firms 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, and 2016 - Ranked for its Employment Law practice in San Francisco; for its Commercial Litigation practice in San Diego; and for its Commercial Litigation practice in Washington, DC.
- Benchmark Litigation - Ranked in six locations for Labor and Employment by Benchmark Litigation in 2019.
- Sanford Heisler Sharp was named one of the Top 50 Most Trustworthy Companies in 2018 by Silicon Review.
- Law360 - 2021, 2019, 2018, and 2016 Employment Practice Group of the Year
-
Benchmark Litigation - Ranked in four locations for Labor and Employment by Benchmark Litigation in 2018 for 10 attorneys.
- TopVerdict.com, Named the 8th top class action settlement in California in 2017 by TopVerdict.com for the Google wage and hour class action settlement
- Named the 12th top settlement in California in 2016 by TopVerdict.com for the Qualcomm gender discrimination class action
- 2015 US News Best Lawyers National Tier 1 Employment Firm, San Francisco
- National Law Journal - 2015 Litigation Boutique Hot List
- National Law Journal - 2015 Elite Trial Lawyers
- National Law Journal - 2014 Elite Trial Lawyers
- National Law Journal - 2013 Litigation Boutique Hot List
- Top Rated Lawyers - Labor and Employment Law, American Lawyers
- Litigation Department of the Year - Employment, The National Law Journal
Office Locations
La Jolla,
CA
7911 Herschel Avenue, Suite 300
La Jolla, CA 92037
United States
619-312-6301
Call our La Jolla, CA location at 619-312-6301
Get Directions
Get directions to our La Jolla, CA location
Palo Alto,
CA
300 Hamilton Avenue, Suite 500
Palo Alto, CA 94301
United States
650-241-0883
Call our Palo Alto, CA location at 650-241-0883
Get Directions
Get directions to our Palo Alto, CA location
San Francisco,
CA
50 California Street, Suite 1538
San Francisco, CA 94111
United States
415-463-8989
Call our San Francisco, CA location at 415-463-8989
Get Directions
Get directions to our San Francisco, CA location
Washington,
DC
700 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, Suite 300
Washington, DC 20003
United States
202-221-3152
Call our Washington, DC location at 202-221-3152
Get Directions
Get directions to our Washington, DC location
New York,
NY
17 State Street, Suite 3700
New York, NY 10004
United States
646-586-2392
Call our New York, NY location at 646-586-2392
Get Directions
Get directions to our New York, NY location
Nashville,
TN
611 Commerce Street, Suite 3100
Nashville, TN 37023
United States
615-777-0713
Call our Nashville, TN location at 615-777-0713
Get Directions
Get directions to our Nashville, TN location
Management and Personnel
Co-Vice Chairman
H. Vincent McKnight, Jr.
Co-Vice Chairman
Judge Kevin Sharp
Co-Vice Chairman
Jeremy Heisler
Chairman
David Sanford
Contacts
Significant Matters
Below are matters chosen by the firm to highlight.
- A $762 million global qui tam settlement against human therapeutics company, Amgen, Inc.
- A jury verdict of $253 million; $175 million settlement in gender discrimination class action against Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation.
- A $120 million settlement in qui tam case against pharmacy services provider, Omnicare, Inc.
- A $99 million settlement in nationwide wage and hour class action against Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation.
- A $68 million settlement in qui tam case against Office Depot.
- A $28 million settlement in wage and hour class action with AT&T.
- A $24 million settlement in gender discrimination class action with pharmaceutical corporation, Sanofi-Aventis.
- A $23.5 million settlement in qui tam case against medical device manufacturer, Medtronic, Inc.
- A $19.5 million gender discrimination class action against tech company, Qualcomm.
- A $14 million settlement in overtime wage & hour class action against C&S Wholesale Grocers.
- An $11 million settlement in consumer fraud class action against Energy Plus Holdings LLC and Energy Plus Natural Gas LP.
- An $11.3 million settlement in whistleblower and qui tam case against medical device manufacturer, Smith & Nephew.
- An $8.7 million settlement in race discrimination class action against Cracker Barrel.
- An $8.2 million settlement in gender pay, promotion, and pregnancy discrimination class action against pharmaceutical company, Daiichi Sankyo.
- A $5.5 million settlement in wage & hour class action against Google.
- A $5.1 million settlement in whistleblower and qui tam lawsuit against Meridian Surgical Partners LLC.
- A $5 million settlement in gender discrimination and sexual harassment class action against Fairfield Resorts Incorporated.
- A $4.15 million settlement in whistleblower and qui tam case against medical device manufacturer, AtriCure, Inc.
- A $4.1 million settlement in whistleblower and qui tam case against genetic testing company, Pathway Genomics Corporation.
- A $4 million settlement in gender discrimination class action against Forest Laboratories and Forest Pharmaceuticals.
- A $4 million settlement in race discrimination class action against medical device manufacturer, Smith & Nephew.
- A $3.45 million settlement in ERISA breach of fiduciary duty class action against investment management firm, Eaton Vance.