Sara Kim

Sara focuses her practice on representing and counseling clients on a spectrum of employment-related issues – including discrimination, harassment, worker classifications, accommodations, handbooks and policies, and employee separations. Her experience includes litigating individual claims in federal and state courts, defending employers in mediation and arbitration, advocating for management in union negotiations, advising on best practices for onboarding and terminating employees, and conducting internal investigations of highly sensitive subject matters.

Sara’s day-to-day counseling experience includes advising clients on compliance with evolving diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) obligations, leaves of absence and accommodations, reductions in force, performance and risk management, litigation avoidance, and manager and employee training. She also regularly assists clients with employment-related aspects of M&A transactions.

Additionally, Sara maintains an active pro bono practice, representing inmates seeking compassionate release, helping veterans needing legal assistance in a variety of matters and advocating for children’s rights. Notably, she successfully sought compensatory services from regional centers in Southern California for children with special needs.

Sara’s representative matters include:

• Defended a national nonprofit organization specializing in public electricity-related research and development in arbitration against claims of age and gender discrimination, retaliation, and wrongful termination
• Defended a cloud computing and data company in a whistleblower retaliation matter before the US Department of Labor
• Conducted a high-profile investigation into the business and sports operations of a national women’s sports team for allegations of gender-based harassment, discrimination, retaliation and other misconduct

Before joining Cooley, Sara was an associate attorney at DLA Piper.