Sandra R. McCandless

McCandless is thankful she hasn't been pigeonholed with a specific type of client.

For instance, she started representing cannabis companies after the legalization of marijuana in California.

"Five years ago I did not know that we would be doing legal work in the cannabis industry but this is an important emerging and cutting edge industry today," McCandless said. "The cannabis industry presents legal issues across the board as is the case with any other industry. We advise clients in all aspects of their compliance with state and national law."

And while sexual harassment in the workplace may not be a new type of case, more complaints are being filed because of greater awareness.

"For some period of time, I had seen fewer sexual harassment claims, as clients receiving ongoing legal advice became sensitive to the issues and addressed them appropriately," McCandless said. "But there has indeed been a resurgence in sexual harassment claims. Companies are well advised not only to do in-person harassment training but also to embrace comprehensive diversity and implicit bias training. Like many businesses, they need help with unionizing, drafting executive agreements and other requirements."

"I enjoy learning things and the fact that it's a cutting edge industry is of interest to me," McCandless explained.

Longstanding staples of her work include advising international companies with U.S. employment issues and doing the same for American companies abroad.

Domestically, she has worked for many years with Native American tribes, which tend to have two major operating sides: the tribal commission and the businesses they control. "Our tribal representation consists of work for tribal governments and their casinos and other business enterprises," McCandless said. "We represent tribes in a manner which adopts best practices in the context of their sovereignty as governmental organizations."

Recently, she guided Tigua Inc., a tech company operated by the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo tribe in El Paso Texas as they were embroiled in a contentious U.S. Department of Labor audit of employment and payroll practices.

The tribe's 4,000 members depend on U.S. government contracts, so an adverse finding would have had significant consequences. But with McCandless' help, the audit resulted in a very minimal payment by Tigua.

"I continue to enjoy the opportunity as a management employment attorney to learn about the unique businesses of each of our clients and to work with them in advancing both their business and human resources objectives," she said.

-- Arin Mikailian