Sahara Pynes’s practice focuses almost exclusively on minimizing liability against lawsuits, through preventative counseling on a range of employment issues. Sahara provides both established and emerging businesses informed and practical strategies to enhance company culture and effectively manage human resources.
Sahara has a passion for working with management on employee engagement and retention, drafting customized and effective employee handbooks and personnel policies, the development and implementation of employment contracts, noncompetition agreements, independent contractor agreements and implementing reductions in force.
Sahara seamlessly guides clients through sexual harassment complaints and investigations, reasonable accommodations, employee classifications, paid sick leave compliance, leaves of absence coordination, compliance with Title VII, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act and the ever-growing list of other federal, state and local employment statutes.
She also creates and provides training workshops and coaches C-level executives on a range of employment-related topics, including harassment, interviewing and hiring, effective communications, management of leave laws, managerial intelligence and sensitivity issues.
In addition, Sahara has experience representing clients in mediation and administrative hearings and negotiating collective bargaining agreements.
Prior to joining the firm, Sahara was the president and founder of Training Mavens, a company that focused on ensuring its clients complied with all employment laws and provided best practices and training to help foster positive employee relations and prevent employee lawsuits. She also served as an interim director of human relations at Dogeared Inc., a Certified B-Corporation that handcrafts jewelry in Southern California.
Sahara was also a labor and employment attorney at international law firms in both New York and Los Angeles. Prior to her practice of law, Sahara was a reporter for the New York Law Journal.
Sahara is an executive committee member of the Santa Monica Bay chapter of YPO (Young Presidents’ Organization), a global network of successful young chief executives.
She also serves as a fundraising board member and event chair for Determined to Succeed, an organization based in Santa Monica that provides highly motivated students from low-income families with comprehensive, year-round academic, enrichment and social-emotional support from middle school through college graduation.
EDUCATION :
- New York Law School (J.D., magna cum laude, 2001)
- Syracuse University (B.S., 1998)
MEMBERSHIPS :
- Determined to Succeed
- YPO Santa Monica Bay
- Brentwood School Parents Association
COURT ADMISSIONS :
- U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York
BAR ADMISSIONS : California, New York.
Cost
Rate : $$$