Altshuler Berzon LLP is pleased to announce that it has been recognized with a 2026 California Lawyer Attorney of the Year (CLAY) award by the Daily Journal for our work challenging the Trump administration’s unlawful actions toward the federal workforce.
The team, co-led by partners Danielle E. Leonard, Eileen B. Goldsmith, and Stacey M. Leyton, undertook an extensive, multi-phase litigation effort beginning in early 2025 that secured multiple injunctions across three landmark cases that have protected tens of thousands of federal employees from wrongful termination while also preserving critical government services.
- American Federation of Government Employees AFL-CIO v. U.S. Office of Personnel Management, 3:25-cv-01780 (N.D. Cal., filed Feb. 19, 2025) challenged the mass termination of probationary federal employees nationwide.
- American Federation of Government Employees AFL-CIO v. Trump, 3:25-cv-3698 (N.D. Cal., filed April 28, 2025) challenged the constitutionality of large-scale government reorganization and downsizing without congressional authorization, and stopped large-scale reductions in force (RIFs) affecting many thousands of federal workers and dozens of federal agencies.
- American Federation of Government Employees AFL-CIO v. U.S. Office of Management and Budget, 3:25-cv-08302 (N.D. Cal., filed Sept. 30, 2025) fought additional RIFs during and immediately following the government shutdown.
It was the firm’s absolute privilege to represent and work with broad coalitions of unions, nonprofit organizations, and government entities in these cases, alongside co-counsel from Democracy Forward, Protect Democracy, Democracy Defenders Fund, Public Rights Project, and in-house counsel at the unions and NRDC.
Altshuler Berzon LLP congratulates attorneys Danielle E. Leonard, Eileen B. Goldsmith, Stacey M. Leyton, B.J. Chisholm, Scott A. Kronland, Corinne F. Johnson, Robin S. Tholin, James Baltzer, Alice X. Wang, Talia Stender, Anita T. Alem and Elizabeth A. Eshleman, along with all of its professional staff who worked on these cases, for this well-deserved recognition, and remains committed to advancing the rights of workers and upholding the rule of law.