David Sanford
Chairman of Sanford Heisler Sharp, LLP
David Sanford is the Chairman and Co-Founder of Sanford Heisler Sharp, LLP, a national law firm with offices in the District of Columbia, New York, California, Tennessee, and Maryland. He received his J.D. from Stanford Law School, M.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and B.A. from Vassar College. David has recovered more than one billion dollars for individual clients and the United States government since 2004.
David represents C-suite executives and non-managerial hourly employees throughout the US. He has served as lead counsel in more than 50 class actions and numerous qui tam cases around the country and represented more than 100 general counsel and attorneys (in-house and outside counsel) in contract disputes, employment matters, and severance packages.
David was inducted into the National Law Journal’s “Elite Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame” and named among the top 100 trial lawyers in America by the National Trial Lawyers. He is recognized as a “Top Employment Lawyer” by American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel and the National Law Journal; and rated “Band One” by Chambers. Recognized by Law360 as an “Employment Lawyer MVP” and as a “Titan of the Plaintiffs’ Bar,” David has also been selected as a “Super Lawyer” in both Washington, DC and New York. Since 2006, he has been AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell, the highest rating given to an attorney by judges and attorneys nationwide.
He sits on the Board of the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem and on the Board of Corps Africa. David is a member of the advisory board of the Foundation for Advocacy, Inclusion, and Resources, a non-profit focused on increasing diversity in the plaintiffs’ employment bar and raising public consciousness about workers’ rights; is on the advisory board of Aernos; and is an advisory forum member of the Stanford University Center on the Legal Profession.
- Stanford University
- J.D. (1995)
- University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
- A.B.D. (1985)
- University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
- M.A. (1984)
- Vassar College
- B.A. (1980)
- Board of Directors Member
- Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem
- Current
- Member
- Board of Corps Africa
- Current
- Board of Directors Member
- The Center for WorkLife Law
- Current
- Advisory Board Member
- Foundation for Advocacy, Inclusion and Resources
- Current
- COVID-19 and the US Legal Profession
- Chambers and Partners
- Recognized for work in the field of “Employment Law - Individuals”
- Best Lawyers in America
- Labor & Employment Star
- Benchmark Litigation
- Employment MVP
- Law360
- Labor & Employment Star
- Benchmark Litigation
- Titan of the Plaintiffs Bar
- Law360
- National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA)
- Member
- Current
- District of Columbia
- District of Columbia Bar
- Maryland
- Supreme Court of Maryland
- New York
- New York State Office of Court Administration
- 1st Circuit
- 2nd Circuit
- 7th Circuit
- D.C. Circuit
- U.S. Supreme Court
- Employment Law
- Employee Benefits, Employment Contracts, Employment Discrimination, ERISA, Overtime & Unpaid Wages, Sexual Harassment, Whistleblower, Wrongful Termination
- Public Interest Litigation
- Whistleblower and Qui Tam
- Financial Services Litigation
- Criminal/Sexual Violence
- English: Spoken, Written