Overview
Laura Heckathorn, a partner in Fisher Phillips’ Boston and Los Angeles offices, has decades of experience counseling employers on managing risk and avoiding costly employment and regulatory issues in California. She also has served as first chair in employment litigation in federal and state courts, arbitration, administrative proceedings, and appeals.
Laura has devoted her entire career to helping employers build better workplaces. She began in Human Resources at a software company in Lexington, Massachusetts, and maintains a deep operational understanding in her legal practice. She has also held significant in-house roles at Fortune 500 companies, most recently as General Counsel for an executive recruiting firm. Clients rely on Laura for creative, practical, and customized solutions to navigate evolving workplace laws and regulations.
She advises on a wide range of federal and state issues to ensure compliance and reduce litigation risk. Her counseling experience includes internal investigations, contingent workforce issues, AI governance, sexual harassment prevention and training, leave and disability accommodations, employment and service agreements, handbook development, due diligence for mergers and acquisitions, reductions in force and succession planning, wage and hour and pay equity audits, personnel policies, workplace strategies, employee relations, and Title III accessibility. She also develops and delivers training and legal update programs tailored to client needs.
Laura has extensive experience defending employers in California employment litigation, including discrimination, harassment, retaliation, ADA Title III, and wage and hour matters, both in single-plaintiff cases and class actions. She serves clients across industries, with emphasis on staffing, PEO, financial services, tech and startups, retail, manufacturing, media, and entertainment.
A frequent speaker and author on emerging workplace issues, Laura’s insights have been featured in the Orange County Register and in interviews on Business Insider’s SiriusXM Radio channel.
*Laura is admitted in California. Her admission is pending in Massachusetts, where she is supervised by a licensed bar member in the state.