Wilmer J. Harris

Wilmer J. Harris graduated from Stanford University in 1986 with an A.B. degree in Economics, with Distinction, and Honors in Humanities. He was elected to membership in Phi Beta Kappa in 1985.

Mr. Harris graduated from UCLA School of Law in 1990, earning Order of the Coif honors and American Jurisprudence Awards in Evidence, Moot Court and Remedies.

Mr. Harris worked as Law Clerk to the Honorable David W. Williams for one year after his law school graduation. He entered private practice, thereafter practicing business litigation for two years with the law firms Kaye, Scholer, Fierman, Hays & Handler and Blanc, Williams, Johnston & Kronstadt.

In January 1994, Mr. Harris joined the Law Offices of Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. His practice area changed dramatically as he began representing clients in civil rights cases, including Reginald Denny. In August 1995, Mr. Harris joined the firm (currently named Schonbrun Seplow Harris Hoffman & Zeldes) where he has concentrated primarily on the representation of employees in disputes with employers and individuals in civil rights cases.

In November 1999, Mr. Harris opened a satellite office in the Pasadena area where he remains the resident partner. Mr. Harris speaks regularly on employment law issues for the State Bar of California, Los Angeles County Bar Association and California Employment Lawyers Association.

Mr. Harris has garnered several settlements and judgments in excess of $1 million in individual civil rights and qui tam cases. Mr. Harris has also recovered many multimillion dollar settlements in wage and hour class actions. Mr. Harris served as co-lead counsel on a $42 million settlement on behalf of a class of residential real estate appraisers.

Mr. Harris has served on the Board of Directors of the California Employment Lawyers Association and Disability Rights Legal Center. In 2005, he was selected to sit on the California State Bar Labor & Employment Executive Committee and served through 2013. He served as the Chair of the State Bar Labor & Employment Section for the 2010-2011 term. Mr. Harris has been selected as a "Southern California Super Lawyer" by Los Angeles Magazine for several years.

In May 2017, Mr. Harris secured a jury verdict of over $5 million for which he was nominated for Consumer Attorneys Association Los Angeles' Trial Lawyer of the Year Award in 2017. He practices extensively on behalf of whistleblowers, both in individual retaliation cases as well as complex cases under the False Claims Act, serving as relator's counsel in a number of qui tam actions. Mr. Harris and co-counsel have received seven figure recoveries in such cases aimed at rooting out fraud against the government.