Laura L. Horton 

Laura L. Horton founded Horton Law Firm APC in 2001 to advocate for employee rights. “Do you feel like you are David and your employer is Goliath?” her website asks, adding that the firm specializes in wrongful termination and workplace discrimination, plus civil rights and serious personal injury cases.

Raised in Iowa, Horton said her upbringing set her course. “My dad was a union guy, and I have that Midwest common-sense belief in justice. In the employment field, employers have an unfair advantage over low-wage folks who need their jobs. My clients often inspire me. I’m impressed, for example, by the courage it takes for a single mom to stand up against harassment on the job.”

She began her career working for a defense firm but soon switched paths. “I came over to the bright side,” she said. Now, she runs a two-woman shop with a law clerk for the summer. “I’m looking for a paralegal who’s passionate about this work.”

In addition to an active caseload, Horton is the president of the California Employment Lawyers Association, a 1,200-member plaintiff-side group comprised mainly of solo, small- and medium-sized employment firm lawyers. Its 36th annual conference is set for Sept. 28-30 in San Francisco. “Mostly, we’re mavericks,” she said.

She’s frank about the challenges she and her colleagues face. “Every day, I’m grateful for this work. But has it been smooth sailing? No. It’s harder than I thought it would be. Plaintiffs’ attorneys just work harder than the defense does. There’s always something ahead with a deadline on it.” She takes cases, she added, “that cry out for justice, not based on monetary value.”

In recent years, she has resolved cases through confidential settlements totaling more than $5 million.

Horton is also a member of the National Employment Lawyers Association, where many struggle with anti-worker statutes. “I hear daily about the problems that plaintiff lawyers have in other states, particularly the South. That makes me grateful I’m in California,” she said.

In a current case set for trial in September, Horton represents a former schoolteacher with claims for disability discrimination under the Fair Employment and Housing Act, whistleblower retaliation and unsafe workplace allegations. The teacher took medical leave after he was shown violent caricatures of himself with bloody bullet holes and Nazi symbols drawn by a clique of eighth-grade boys in his class. When he returned, “the school ignored his safety complaints and failed to protect him and other students, resulting in a disabling disability,” Horton said, declining to disclose further details to protect her client’s privacy.

“The court denied the defense’s summary judgment motion, and they made a nuisance value offer. We’re going to a jury. He should get a decent emotional distress award and the school should install a safety plan.”

—John Roemer