Miranda Watkins

Miranda Watkins is a member of the firm’s COVID-19 Taskforce, a cross-disciplinary team of attorneys dedicated to advising employers on the many workplace law aspects of the global coronavirus pandemic.

Miranda Watkins joined the firm's San Diego office as an associate in 2016. She represents national, regional, and local employers in a range of industries, including construction, assisted living facilities, car dealerships, retail, hospitality, education, fitness, staffing companies, railroad and transportation, and aerospace and defense manufacturing. Miranda litigates various employment claims, including discrimination, leaves of absences, wage and hour, pay equity, harassment, retaliation, and wrongful termination. She is adept at cost-effective resolution, often resolving cases before a lawsuit is filed. Miranda is also skilled at obtaining case dismissals at the summary judgment stage. Miranda is passionate about counseling businesses of all sizes on day-to-day employment issues, offering preventative counseling such as handbook and policy advice and drafting, harassment and manager trainings, and workplace investigation counseling to protect employers. Miranda’s passion for employer-focused employment law stems from her family owning an oil construction business in Bakersfield, California, restaurants, and assisted living facilities. 

Miranda is a frequent lecturer on employment law topics and has presented countless seminars to management, executives, human resource professionals and employer groups on topics including digital addictions, marijuana legalization, pay equity, misclassification issues, arbitration agreements, disability discrimination and reasonable accommodations, leaves of absence, wage and hour issues, workplace investigations, discrimination, and social media and the workplace. She also serves as an Adjunct Professor for San Diego State University’s College of Extended Studies, teaching Human Resources and the Law. Miranda and a colleague also recently developed a free monthly employment law webinar series for their clients. During law school, Miranda served as a law clerk for an administrative law judge at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) where her work focused solely on federal employment discrimination matters.Prior to beginning her legal career, Miranda worked as a publicist for a Los Angeles based public relations firm where she worked on numerous red carpet, film, television, and home entertainment publicity campaigns. Miranda’s public relations experience gives her a unique ability to convey the defense of an employer in a compelling way.