David Sanford Attorney

First Admitted: 1997, Maryland

Professional Webpage: https://www.sanfordheisler.com/team/david-sanford/

Bar/Professional Activity:

New York
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, 2020
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, 1998
U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, 1998
U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, 2016
U.S. District Court District of Maryland
U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, 1998
U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia
U.S. District Court Northern District of Florida, 2006
U.S. District Court Central District of Illinois, 2006
U.S. Supreme Court, 2005
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, 2010
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, 2017
District of Columbia, 1998
Maryland, 1997

Verdicts/Settlements (Case Results):

Mr. Sanford served as co-counsel for Graham Chase Robinson in her gender discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against Robert De Niro and his company, Canal Productions, that resulted in a jury in federal court awarding Ms. Robinson $1.26 million in damages. , 2023
In August 2024, the Maryland Supreme Court upheld the crime victims' rights appeal that Mr. Sanford argued before the Maryland Appellate Court and the Supreme Court on behalf of Young Lee, brother of Hae Min Lee, whom Adnan Syed was convicted of murdering more than 20 years ago (the subject of the hit podcast “Serial”). At a hearing in 2022, the Baltimore City Circuit Court vacated Mr. Syed's conviction. Mr. Sanford argued in our appeal that the Baltimore City Circuit Court violated Mr. Lee’s constitutional and statutory rights as a crime victim’s representative by failing to give him adequate notice to appear in court, hear the evidence overturning Mr. Syed’s conviction, and comment meaningfully on whatever evidence the state could produce in support of vacating Mr. Syed’s 1999 conviction. The Supreme Court ordered the Baltimore City Circuit to conduct a new hearing to determine whether Mr. Syed’s conviction should be vacated. In a significant ruling for crime victims’ rights, the Court by a 4–3 vote established for the first time that when the alteration of a sentence is considered, “a victim has the right to be heard on the merits of a vacatur motion after hearing the parties’ presentations in support of the motion, including the right to speak through counsel if the victim is represented by counsel.”, 2024
Mr. Sanford serves as co-counsel for the plaintiff class in Snyder v. UnitedHealth Group, et al., a 401(k) mismanagement class action lawsuit brought under the Employee Income Retirement Security Act (ERISA) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. In December 2024, after years of litigation and shortly before a scheduled trial, the parties reached agreement on a settlement of $69 million. The settlement, pending preliminary and final approval by the Court, is believed to be the largest ever in an ERISA class action alleging a defendant’s failure to remove underperforming investment funds. , 2024
United States ex rel. Bennett v. AtriCure, Inc. (S.D.Tex.)
Velez v. Novartis
Novartis Pharmaceutical Wage & Hour Class Action The law firm of Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, LLP and Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation (”Novartis”) have reached a $99 million settlement to resolve a nationwide wage and hour class action originally brought by Sanford Heisler in the Southern District of New York on March 23, 2006 on behalf of current and former Novartis sales representatives. In their class and collective action lawsuit, thousands of Novartis sales representatives claim they are owed overtime pay under state and federal labor laws because they work more than 40 hours during a work week
Norton Rose Fulbright/Chadbourne & Parke LLP Gender Discrimination Class Action
Novartis Pharmaceutical Gender Discrimination Class Action In the largest gender discrimination case to ever go to trial, Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, LLP successfully represented a class of 5,600 female sales representatives of Novartis Pharmaceutical Company in their gender pay and promotion and pregnancy discrimination claims. A unanimous decision by a jury of nine found Novartis liable for gender discrimination in pay and promotion and pregnancy-related matters and awarded 12 former Novartis sales reps $3.36 million in compensatory damages and the class of 5,600 women an additional $250 million in punitive damages In addition, the verdict from the jury meant that the remaining 5,600 women in the class were also entitled to additional awards of backpay and to seek compensatory damage awards up to $300,000 each. The verdict and the resulting monetary awards was the largest ever in the U.S in an employment discrimination case
Cracker Barrel Race Discrimination Class ActionDavid Sanford was lead counsel in a race discrimination class action suit against Cracker Barrel restaurants. The case concerned discrimination in pay and promotion, and also involved discrimination against African-American customers. The United States Department of Justice intervened in the case after five years of litigation and the suit settled for $8.7 million.
Qualcomm Gender Discrimination Class Action Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, LLP had reached an agreement with Qualcomm Incorporated in which Qualcomm will pay $19.5 million to settle a gender discrimination class action suit. In addition to monetary relief, the settlement requires Qualcomm to institute comprehensive programmatic relief, which will ensure that female employees working, for example, in STEM and related positions will enjoy equal job opportunities at the company. The settlement on behalf of a class of approximately 3300 women was reached before Plaintiffs filed suit. As part of the settlement process, Plaintiffs are required to file a class complaint and move for preliminary approval of the agreement in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

Videos:

As the Chairman of Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, LLP, employment attorney David Sanford has recovered more than $1 billion for individual clients and the United States government, Meet Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, LLP Chairman David Sanford, 2024

Representative Clients:

Mr. Sanford represents Young Lee in his victims' rights appeal before the Maryland Supreme Court. The appeal on behalf of Mr. Lee, brother of murder victim Hae Min Lee, asserts that a Maryland circuit court violated his statutory and constitutional crime victims’ rights by not giving Mr. Lee adequate notice to participate in the hearing at which the murder conviction of Adnan Syed was vacated. , 2024
Mr. Sanford represents the Plaintiff, Dr. Omaida Velazquez, in her claims of race, gender, and national origin discrimination, and retaliation against the University of Miami, its School of Medicine, and its health system (aka “UHealth), in Florida federal court. Dr. Velazquez is the Health System’s former Department of Surgery Chair and Surgeon-in-Chief., 2023

Pro bono/Community Service:

Mr. Sanford represents Young Lee in his victims' rights appeal before the Maryland Supreme Court. The appeal on behalf of Mr. Lee, brother of murder victim Hae Min Lee, asserts that a Maryland circuit court violated his statutory and constitutional crime victims’ rights by not giving Mr. Lee adequate notice to participate in the hearing at which the murder conviction of Adnan Syed was vacated. , 2023

Honors/Awards:

Mr. Sanford was named to Forbes' inaugural list of America's Top 200 Lawyers as co-founder of a firm "devoted to prosecuting and resolving significant social justice and civil rights cases.", America's Top 200 Lawyers, Forbes, 2024
Mr. Sanford has been named a Super Lawyer every year since 2014, save for the years 2021 and 2022, though those were equally distinguished years. , Super Lawyer (New York Metro), Super Lawyers, 2023
Lawyer of Distinction, 2018 - 2020
2019-2023, Best Lawyers in America, Employment Law-Individuals, Best Lawyers in America, 2023
Top Rated Employment & Labor Attorney, Super Lawyers, 2014 - 2021
Top 25 Class Action Trial Lawyers, National Trial Lawyers Association
Top 10 Wage & Hour Trial Lawyers, National Trial Lawyers Association
Washington, DC’s Best Lawyers: Employment Plaintiffs, Washingtonian, 2018 - 2020
Plaintiffs' Lawyer Trailblazer, The National Law Journal, 2018
Top Rated Employment Lawyer, The National Law Journal
Top Rated Employment Lawyer, The American Lawyer
Elite Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame Inductee, The National Law Journal, 2015
Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America for work in the field of “Employment Law – Individuals,” Best Lawyers, 2019 - 2022
Fellow, American Bar Foundation
Labor and Employment Star - Northeast in the practice areas of Civil Rights and Human Rights, Energy and Natural Resources, Labor and Employment, and Product Liability, Benchmark Litigation, 2018 - 2020
Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Employment Lawyer, 2018 - 2023
Leader in the Field, Chambers USA, 2017 - 2020
Labor and Employment Attorney of the Year, Benchmark Litigation, 2018
Employment MVP, Law360, 2014 - 2015 and 2018
Attorney of the Year Finalist, The American Lawyer, 2018
Top Rated Lawyer, Martindale-Hubbell, 2018
Titan of the Plaintiffs Bar, Law360, 2014 and 2018
Trailblazer Plaintiffs' Lawyer, National Law Journal, 2018
Employment Advisory Board, Law360
Top Rated Employment Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, National Law Journal
AV-rated every year since 2006 (highest rating given to an attorney by judges and attorneys nationwide), Martindale-Hubbell, Martindale-Hubbell

Educational Background:

B.A. Vassar College, 1980
M.A. UNC, Chapel Hill, 1984
ABD UNC, Chapel Hill, 1985

Other Outstanding Achievements:

David has been a board member of the Neighborhood Defender Services of Harlem since 2011; a board member of CorpsAfrica since 2010; an advisory board member of the Stanford University Center on the Legal Profession since 2014; an advisory board member of the Foundation for Advocacy, Inclusion, and Resources, a non-profit focused on increasing diversity in the plaintiffs’ employment bar and raising public consciousness about workers’ rights, since 2011; and a member of the advisory board of AerNos.

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