Valerie Brender

Valerie Brender is a partner at Rukin Hyland & Riggin LLP. She litigates class and collective action employment law cases, including misclassification, wage and hour, and discrimination cases. She also advises executives on employment and severance agreements during job transitions and litigates individual civil rights, wrongful dismissal, and whistleblower cases.

Valerie litigates class and collective action employment law cases, including misclassification, wage and hour, and discrimination cases.

Prior to joining the firm, Valerie was a research fellow at Human Rights Watch. Valerie graduated from New York University School of Law where she worked on human rights litigation as a summer law clerk at Schonbrun DeSimone Seplow Harris & Hoffman, LLP, in Los Angeles and at the ACLU’s Center for Democracy in New York. Prior to law school, Valerie was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Panama and a Fulbright Scholar in Spain. She earned her B.A. from Wake Forest University.

Representative Cases and Experience

• Drafted successful class certification motion on behalf of restaurant workers for unpaid wages and breaks;
• Drafted and argued successful oppositions to 12(b)(6) motions;
• Co-drafted class certification motions in independent contractor misclassification wage and hour cases;
• Drafted and argued numerous successful discovery dispute letter briefs;
• Represented students in Unruh Act claims against a university through resolution.

Languages Spoken

• Spanish