Erika Jacobsen White

Erika Jacobsen White is client-centered and practices trauma informed lawyering. She believes that access to justice happens both inside and outside of the courtroom, and that a good lawyer helps their clients feel empowered in the face of a system that is often stacked against them.   Erika practices in the areas of employment discrimination, sexual abuse, civil rights, wage and hour, and whistleblower/qui tam matters. Erika also handles executive employment agreements, severance and non-compete agreements. Her career-long commitment to representing real people facing tough challenges in their lives has resulted in significant results for her clients at trial, mediation, and arbitration – recovering millions of dollars for her clients over the course of her career.   Erika joined Joseph Greenwald & Laake after serving as the Principal of Jacobsen White Law, P.C. in Oakland, California. She currently serves as the Board Vice-President of First Shift Justice Project’s, on the Board of the D.C. Trial Lawyers Association, as well as on the Maryland State Bar Association’s Labor & Employment Law Council.   She is a past president of the Alameda-Contra Costa Trial Lawyers’ Association, Co-founder of the New Lawyers Division of the Consumer Attorneys of California, and a member of the American Association for Justice, Public Justice, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, and the Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association.   Erika has lectured and written on employment discrimination, social justice, and civil rights issues extensively, and is a frequent speaker at community events, universities, and high schools on civil rights issues. In 2016, she taught as an Adjunct Professor at San Francisco State University’s Criminal Justice Studies Program.   Erika has been repeatedly recognized by her colleagues because of her dedication to fighting for her clients, as well as for her commitment to fighting for equality and diversity in the legal profession. She is the 2014 recipient of the Minority Bar Coalition’s “Unity Award;” the recipient of the 2013 Consumer Attorneys of California, “New Lawyers Division Legacy Award;” the 2010 Consumer Attorneys of California Presidential Award of Merit. Erika has also been recognized as a Super Lawyers “Rising Star” from 2012-2017, and a Super Lawyer from 2018-2019.