Part litigator, part guru

Alexandra Bodnar ’96 helps employers decode California’s labor laws

By Lori Craig

Among the lessons Alexandra Bodnar ’96 received at USC Law is a particularly important one for a management-side employment lawyer.

Alexandra Bodnar '96

“Probably the most valuable experience at USC was having class discussions on policy issues, because people had such different political viewpoints and theories of the world,” says Bodnar, who in January joined labor and employment firm Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart as a shareholder in the firm’s Los Angeles office. “You learned how to express your opinion, hear other people’s opinions and have a civil and productive dialogue. That’s a skill you need as a lawyer.”

Along with a sense of humor to handle some colorful characters, Bodnar says.

“If an employer fires an employee in California, that employee will find a lawyer,” she says. “And there is a range in quality of lawyer. So you have to be able to deal with them — lawyers of all different strengths, let’s say.”

Bodnar’s forte is class-action wage and hour work, defending employers in wrongful termination cases and representing employers in litigation with former employees who have misappropriated trade secrets. She also counsels employers so they can avoid litigation and stay in compliance with California’s “unique” employment laws

“California is probably one of the most employee-friendly states,” Bodnar says. “It has a labor code that’s the size of a dictionary, so there’s always something employers are going to do wrong, even with the best of intentions.”

There also is a lot of human drama, which drew Bodnar to labor and employment law.

“I thought, ‘I can’t believe people get paid to do this,’” she says. “As an employment lawyer, you’re both reactive and proactive: You’re helping employers before they run into trouble and you’re defending them in litigation when they do get into trouble. You feel more like a trusted advisor to your clients. And the reality is that in employment cases, it’s always an issue of personality. Sometimes it’s actually more important to the client than the commercial dispute because they’re more invested in it.”

In 1998, Bodnar joined Squires Sanders & Dempsey to focus solely on employment issues. She became a partner and head of the L.A. office’s labor and employment group before joining Ogletree Deakins.

Once she is fully settled into the new job, Bodnar hopes to indulge two of her passions — traveling and photography.

“Every year I try to take one trip where no one can find me, like hiking Machu Picchu or visiting the Galápagos Islands,” Bodnar says. “Last year, I went to Tunisia right after the Jasmine Revolution. It was so interesting to see this post-revolution country, and they were so excited to have westerners there, but we were the only tourists taking a post-revolution trip.”

This story originally appeared in the Summer 2012 edition of USC Law Magazine.