Melvin L. Felton II

Felton’s recent legal work has included big ticket, pre-litigation settlements in whistleblower retaliation matters.

With a clientele including Fortune 500 companies and large municipalities, Felton explained that negotiating a settlement is sometimes a better option than making headlines with a trial.

“Some clients have less of an appetite for that kind of risk,” said Felton. “At the end of the day, my job is to communicate and investigate.”

Felton has been a trial lawyer for Los Angeles-based Sanders Roberts for just under three years. He specializes in employment and business litigation and counseling for companies of all sizes in industries including manufacturing, construction, technology, financial services, and entertainment.

His trial work at the boutique firm includes second chair to represent client Southern California Edison in the successful defense of a federal whistleblower and Sarbanes-Oxley employment case. Wagner v. Southern California Edison Co., 2:16-cv-06259 (C.D. Cal, filed August 19, 2016). He handled witnesses and argued a motion that disposed of many of the plaintiff’s causes of action.

Felton said his approach to any case involves interviewing the parties and researching the background. “My job is to investigate internally to find out what really happened,” he said.

He credits his undergraduate degree in print journalism from USC with helping him to hone his interviewing and writing skills. He’s also a 2010 graduate of Columbia Law School, where he was on the staff of the student-edited Columbia Journal of Law & the Arts.

Felton gives back to the legal community through educational and professional associations. He teaches the Legal Aspects of Human Resource Administration course at CalState Long Beach’s College of Continuing and Professional Education. He’s also treasurer of the John M. Langston Bar Association of Los Angeles and holds leadership roles in the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s litigation section, the National Employment Law Council, and the American Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Section Trial Institute.

“No one practices law in a vacuum. My job for my clients is to have the best information about what’s happening on the landscape,” he said. “My participation in the bar associations allows me to do that.”

Felton said he credits his law firm colleagues with helping him achieve positive outcomes for clients.

“I’m humbled that my clients would choose me to advocate for them,” he said. “I really do take the time necessary to prepare for each and every case, and I have a great team behind me to make it all happen.”

— Jennifer McEntee