Sandra R. McCandless, Partner

Ms. McCandless is the head of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal’s labor and employment practice in California.  She represents management in all aspects of labor and employment: class action and individual litigation, arbitration, mediation, and the provision of employment-related advice.  Ms. McCandless has represented employers in the technology, banking, insurance, hotel, manufacturing, automotive, food, trucking, retail, garment, maritime, and trade industries in matters ranging from employment contract drafting and collective bargaining negotiations to wrongful termination and discrimination litigation.  She is an expert in the employment aspects of Indian Law and tribal representation.  She has practiced frequently in the international arena and has represented many Asian and  European companies doing business in the United States.   She serves as an arbitrator and mediator on the American Arbitration Association Labor and Employment Panel and as an Early Neutral Evaluator for the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.  Early in her career she served in the Appellate Court Branch of the National Labor Relations Board in Washington, D.C., and she represents employers in the unionized as well as the non-union sectors.

Ms. McCandless is very active in bar association and business and community activities. She is an elected Member of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, and the immediate past Chair of the Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section of the American Bar Association.  She serves as a Trustee and Co-Chair of the Corporate Committee of the Berkeley Repertory Theatre.  Ms. McCandless chaired the Committee on Employer-Employee Relations of the Section of Tort and Insurance Practice of the American Bar Association; the Committee on Labor Law of the San Francisco Barristers Club; and a subcommittee on violence in the workplace of the Labor and Employment Section of the American Bar Association.  She is the former President of the Korean-American Chamber of Commerce of the North Pacific Coast of the United States and currently serves as a Board member of that business group. 

Ms. McCandless is a member of the Women's Business Development Group at Sonnenschein. 

Ms. McCandless is admitted to practice before the courts of the State of California, the United States Courts of Appeals for the First, Sixth, Seventh and Ninth Circuits, the Northern and Eastern Districts of California, and the United States Supreme Court. 

National Labor Relations Board Certificate of Commendation for High Quality Performance

Ms. McCandless is a prolific writer, is often quoted in the press, and has been invited to speak to diverse legal and business groups in the international, national, and local arenas.  She edited a two volume book on employment law and practice, “Guide to Equal Employment Practices”, which was published by Warren Gorham and Lamont in 1997.  Sandra’s writings have been published in The Brief, The National Law Journal, Tort & Insurance Law Journal, and Japan Commercial Arbitration Association Journal.  Some of her publications include “Mediation and Releases,” The Practitioner’s Guide to Defense of EPL Claims, 2005, “An Employment Litigator’s Summary Guide to Summary Judgment, 2004, “Trial as Theatre: Directing the Courtroom Drama”, 2001, “Representing the Employer and Individual Co-Defendant in Employment Cases: Legal Strategies and Ethical Considerations”, 2001, Trying the Employment Tort Case, Second Edition, 2001, and "Discovery and Deposing the Plaintiff - Defense Perspective," Litigating the Sexual Harassment Case, Second Edition, 2000.