We are thrilled to share some exciting news with you – O’Hagan Meyer is expanding its footprint in the heart of Los Angeles with a brand-new downtown office! This dedicated team of experienced attorneys rounds out an impressive team of litigators in the Southern California offices of O’Hagan Meyer, now totaling over 80 lawyers-strong. As a premier law firm dedicated to providing exceptional legal services, we are constantly seeking ways to better serve our clients and further establish our presence in the legal community.

Joining us as Co-Managing Partner in the Downtown LA Office is Melissa Daugherty. Along with Partners Jack Jiminez, Soojin Kang, Ashleigh Kasper, Parisa Khademi, Kerri Lutfey, Meghan McCord, Michael Metta, Brendan Sapien, and Andrew Sokolowski. Additionally, we welcome LA-based Associates Andreas Moghimi-Danesh, Irene Gharapet, Andrea Poma Hernando, Alison Korgan, Stephanie Le, Joseph Ramli, Paige Rivett, Seyoneh Sarkisian, Leo Setian, Andrea Steffan, Zachary Tucker, and Eric Zeiger.

This multi-faceted group of attorneys brings with them a multitude of skills and varied experiences that further enriches the diversity and expertise of our team. The formation of our O’Hagan Meyer Downtown Los Angeles office at the KPMG center at 550 South Hope Street is a strategic step towards furthering our commitment to providing exceptional legal services in California and beyond.

In addition to our expansion in California, we are pleased to welcome Michael Metta as a Partner in our Boston, Massachusetts office, who will be an invaluable asset to addressing our East Coast clients’ needs.

Meet Our New Attorneys:

Los Angeles, CA

Melissa Daugherty, Co-Managing Partner of Los Angeles
Melissa Daugherty has 20 years of experience representing management side clients, both individuals and organizations, in all aspects of employment related matters. Among many other accolades over her career, she has been recognized as one of The Best Lawyers in America® 2024 and as one of the Most Influential Women Lawyers in 2019 selected by the Los Angeles Business Journal. Ms. Daugherty devotes her practice to the defense of clients ranging from small family run businesses to international and publicly traded companies, exclusively representing them in Labor and Employment and third-party discrimination matters. While her practice spans numerous industries, Ms. Daugherty has particular expertise in healthcare, serving as the go-to attorney for several prominent healthcare systems. Learn more about Melissa. 

Jack Jiminez, Partner
Jack Jimenez’s litigation practice in the Los Angeles office focuses on representing employers in a wide range of single-plaintiff employment matters, including discrimination, retaliation, harassment, wrongful termination, and related claims. In addition to his litigation practice, Jack advises employers on employee discipline and terminations, disability accommodations, leaves of absences, compliance with wage and hour laws, and other day-to-day employment issues. Learn more about Jack. 

Soojin Kang, Partner
Soojin Kang has represented clients ranging from large corporations to individuals to public entities, in state and federal trial courts, appellate courts, and in administrative proceedings. Ms. Kang’s experience includes defending and resolving wage and hour class actions and representative actions under the Private Attorneys General Act, claims of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, and failure to accommodate, misclassification claims, non-compete and trade secret claims, and also employment law advice and counseling regarding policies, practices, payroll compliance. Learn more about Soojin.

Ashleigh Kasper, Partner
Ashleigh Kasper is committed to securing the best results for her clients through aggressive and impassioned advocacy. Ms. Kasper has experience with all stages of case management, from pre-litigation investigations and settlement negotiations, to litigating cases through informal resolution, mediation, summary judgment, or trial. Ms. Kasper has defended public and private employers in individual and multi-plaintiff lawsuits and pre-litigation claims in numerous labor and employment matters including workplace discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, and the like. Learn more about Ashleigh. 

Parisa Khademi, Partner
Parisa Khademi has significant experience defending employers in individual and multi-plaintiff lawsuits regarding workplace discrimination, retaliation, failure to accommodate, harassment, wrongful termination, and wage and hour claims. Ms. Khademi represents employers in state and federal courts, before arbitrators, as well as in administrative matters before the DFEH and EEOC. She also provides counseling and advice for clients on a broad spectrum of employment-related counseling issues with an understanding of the dynamic legal landscape of California and national employment laws. Her efforts have led her to securing dismissals for her clients both before and during trial. Learn more about Parisa. 

Kerri Lutfey, Partner
Kerri has over 10 years of experience representing employers and managerial level employees in all aspects of employment-related matters. Ms. Lutfey devotes her practice to the defense of management side clients, both individuals and organizations, in individual and multi-plaintiff lawsuits involving workplace discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, and wage and hour claims. Ms. Lutfey vigorously advocates for her clients through all stages of litigation, and has extensive experience in providing strategic employment advice and counseling to clients, including policy drafting and training. Learn more about Kerri. 

Meghan McCord, Partner
Meghan McCord focuses on all areas of employment litigation and employment counseling including discrimination and harassment, wrongful termination, wage and hour, trade secrets, employment contract and employment risk management. In addition, Ms. McCord specializes in defending businesses and individuals in sexual assault and molestation cases arising both within and outside the employment context. Understanding the sensitive and personal nature of these allegations and the complexity of the cases, Ms. McCord works tirelessly with her clients to achieve their goals. Learn more about Meghan. 

Darren Pang, Partner
Darren Pang has extensive experience litigating employment and civil rights claims on behalf of employers in state and federal district courts across California, as well as handling administrative and pre-litigation matters. Mr. Pang focuses on providing strategic, effective, and efficient representation with an emphasis on defending claims of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, whistleblowing, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and wage and hour violations. Mr. Pang is involved in all aspects of litigation from inception through trial, and brings his prior experience at two esteemed LA defense firms to his practice at O’Hagan Meyer. Learn more about Darren. 

Brendan Sapien, Partner
Brendan Sapien has resolved a wide range of employment litigation matters, including wrongful termination, harassment, discrimination, wage and hour, whistleblower, breach of contract, consumer protection, and various other civil claims at all stages of litigation. Mr. Sapien also specializes in class action and Private Attorney General Act (“PAGA”) litigation in both the wage and hour and consumer context. Mr. Sapien has obtained a number of favorable verdicts and dismissals for clients in state, federal, and administrative matters, both at the trial and pre-trial stage. Additionally, Mr. Sapien works with employers to proactively resolve employee relations issues and mitigate the potential risk of future employment litigation. Learn more about Brendan. 

Andrew Sokolowski, Partner
Andrew Sokolowski’s practice focuses on representing clients in wage and hour litigation and Labor Code compliance. This includes class action litigation and representative litigation under the Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (“PAGA) and Fair Labor Standards Act “(FLSA”). Over the course of his career, Mr. Sokolowski has represented clients regarding a variety of wage and hour issues, including but not limited to: the correct classification of employees as exempt, non-exempt, and independent contractors; claims related to employee wages, including the proper calculation of overtime pay, sick pay, and compensation for off-the-clock work; and compliance with California’s wage statement requirements. Learn more about Andrew. 

Andreas Moghimi-Danesh, Associate
Andreas Moghimi-Danesh represents employers in a variety of labor and employment matters, involving issues in wage and hour law, PAGA, wrongful termination, discrimination, retaliation, misclassification, and contract. Andreas graduated from Pepperdine Caruso School of Law in Malibu, California. While in law school, Andreas externed for the General Counsel at Austin F.C. and also clerked at the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, where he was awarded the “Law Clerk Extraordinaire” Award. Learn more about Andreas.

Irene Gharapet, Associate
Irene Gharapet’s practice primarily focuses on defending employers and managerial employees in individual and multi-plaintiff lawsuits involving claims of workplace discrimination, harassment, retaliation, failure to accommodate, failure to engage in the interactive process, and wrongful termination in both state and federal court, as well is in arbitration.. Prior to joining O’Hagan Meyer, Ms. Gharapet served as an associate at a full-service national law firm where she defended multi-plaintiff and multi-defendant labor and employment and wage and hour claims for insurance carriers and private clients. Learn more about Irene. 

Alison Korgan, Associate
Alison Korgan is a member of the Labor & Employment Practice at O’Hagan Meyer. Ms. Korgan received her Juris Doctor from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, with a specialization in Media, Entertainment, and Technology Law and Policy. During law school, Ms. Korgan served as a Staff Editor for Volume 24 and an Articles Editor for Volume 25 of the UCLA Entertainment Law Review. She also worked as a research assistant to Professor Devon Carbado for three years and served as a legal intern at the entertainment labor union, SAG-AFTRA. Learn more about Alison. 

Andrea Poma Hernando, Associate
Andrea Poma Hernando focuses her practice on representing employers and managerial level employees in lawsuits involving workplace discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, and wage and hour claims. Ms. Poma Hernando has defended California employers in both state and federal venues. She received her law degree from Loyola Law School, where she acted as a research editor of the Loyola of Los Angeles International & Comparative Law Review and interned for the Honorable Sheri A. Bluebond at the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California. Learn more about Andrea. 

Joseph Ramli, Associate
Joseph C. Ramli represents employers in large wage-and-hour class actions and representative PAGA claims, relying on his analytical background to project liability in these complex matters. Mr. Ramli also defends clients in individual employment claims, such as claims for discrimination, wrongful termination, and retaliation. Mr. Ramli has experience representing a variety of clients across numerous industries, including restaurants, freight companies, medical providers, supermarkets, and manufacturers. Learn more about Joseph. 

Paige Rivett, Associate
Paige Rivett is a member of the Labor & Employment and Wage and Hour Practices at O’Hagan Meyer. Ms. Rivett received her Juris Doctor from the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco (formerly University of California, Hastings College of the Law), with a concentration in Work Law. During law school, Ms. Rivett served as a Staff Editor for Volume 32 and as Production Editor for Volume 33 of the UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice (formerly Hastings Journal on Gender and the Law). Learn more about Paige. 

Leo Setian, Associate
Leo Setian’s practice is focused on Labor and Employment litigation matters alongside wage and hour class actions and claims under the California Private Attorneys General Act. Prior to joining O’Hagan Meyer, Mr. Setian worked at a boutique Plaintiff’s side employment law firm, protecting the rights of employees and gaining hands-on litigation experience. This provided him with a unique perspective in defending employment law matters and developing efficient strategies for resolution to his client’s benefit. Mr. Setian graduated from Pepperdine Law School, where he served as the Student Articles Editor for the Dispute Resolution Law Journal. Learn more about Leo. 

Andrea Steffan, Associate
Dr. Andrea Steffan has defended employers in individual and multi-plaintiff lawsuits and pre-litigation claims for wrongful termination, retaliation, harassment, and discrimination matters. Dr. Steffan specializes in defending employers in sexual assault and sexual molestation matters in and out of the employment context and assisting employers in obtaining workplace violence restraining orders to protect employees from internal and external threats of violence. Dr. Steffan received her law degree from the evening program at Loyola Law School where she was the Chief Justice for Loyola’s Scott Moot Court program, a Senior Technical Editor for the Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review, and Vice President of the St. Thomas More Law Honor Society. Learn more about Andrea. 

Zachary Tucker, Associate
In his practice, Zachary Tucker defends employers against individual claims of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, failure to accommodate, and failure to engage in the interactive process, among others. Mr. Tucker also handles a multitude of class action matters involving alleged violations of wage and hour law, including meal and rest period claims, regular and overtime pay issues, and recordkeeping disputes. Mr. Tucker has experience representing clients at all stages of litigation, including at deposition, in court, and at trial. Mr. Tucker is a graduate of the University of California Los Angeles and the University of California Los Angeles School of Law. Learn more about Zachary. 

Eric Zeiger, Associate
A member of the Labor & Employment Practice at O’Hagan Meyer, Eric Zeiger has noteworthy and practical experience representing and advising employers in all aspects of employment law. Mr. Zeiger defends employers in individual and multi-plaintiff pre-litigation claims and lawsuits, and has represented his clients in all phases of litigation ranging from conducting pre-litigation investigations, propounding and responding to discovery, taking and defending depositions, and serving as trial counsel. In addition to his employment experience, Mr. Zeiger has significant experience representing attorneys and accountants in a wide variety of professional liability matters. Mr. Zeiger has also represented employers in personal injury, insurance coverage, and construction defect matters. Learn more about Eric. 

Joining the Downtown LA office soon are Associates Stephanie Le and Seyoneh Sarkisian, and we look forward to welcoming them to the O’Hagan Meyer family.

Boston, MA

Michael Metta, Partner
Michael Metta, a partner in the firm’s Boston office, is a member of the firm’s multi-state labor & employment practice, defending employers against federal and state wage and hours claims (including class actions and FLSA collective actions), and claims of discrimination, whistleblower, retaliation, and due process violations. He is also a trial and appellate lawyer with a broad commercial litigation background representing employers, insurers, ERISA plan fiduciaries, and business clients in employment, employee benefits, and first-party coverage actions. Learn more about Michael.