Ann Wicks is special counsel in the Employment and Labor Practice Group and a member of Cooley Godward’s Litigation department. She joined the firm in 2004 and is resident in the San Francisco office.

Ms. Wicks’ practice focuses on labor and employment litigation, which includes experience in administrative and jury trials. She has represented clients in litigation before state and federal courts in the areas of wrongful termination, discrimination, sexual harassment, whistleblower retaliation, wage and hour, contracts, Sarbanes-Oxley, and trade secrets. She has also represented clients in arbitration and mediation proceedings, and before state and federal agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, the Department of Labor Standards and Enforcement, and the Department of Industrial Relations.

Ms. Wicks’ employment law practice also includes pre-litigation counseling for clients in areas such as employee hiring, discipline and separations, staff reorganizations, reductions in force, consultant and independent contractor agreements, executive employment agreements, employment practices and policies, employee training and trade secrets protection. She has worked with union and non-union employers, and has advised public and private employers in a broad array of industries, including airline, trucking, food, retail, manufacturing, agricultural, high technology and hospitality industries.

Prior to joining Cooley, Ms. Wicks was a partner with the San Francisco office of Littler Mendelson, where she represented various local and national clients in employment litigation matters.

Ms. Wicks received a J.D. in 1993 from the University of California, Berkeley (Boalt Hall), where she was the Editor in Chief of the Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor Law (formerly known as the Industrial Relations Law Journal). She also attended California State University, Chico, where she graduated with honors and received Bachelors of Arts degrees in Political Science and Psychology, in 1990.

Ms. Wicks was admitted to the California Bar in 1993, and is admitted to practice before all courts in the State of California, including the U.S. Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit, and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Ms. Wicks is a member of the California and American Bar Associations and the Bar Association of San Francisco.