About

Southern California’s Employee-Side Employment Firm — the Wage Recovery Queen®

When you have been fired, harassed, discriminated against, or cheated out of pay, you are not just up against your former employer — you are up against their lawyers, their HR department, and their insurance company. The Law Office of Briana Kim, PC exists to even those odds. We are a boutique employment litigation firm that represents California employees — never employers — delivering small-firm attention with the litigation muscle and technology of a much larger practice.

From our offices in Long Beach and La Palma, we fight for workers across Los Angeles County and Orange County who have been wronged on the job. Many of them know us simply as the Wage Recovery Queen®.

We Represent Employees. Never Employers.

Some firms play both sides; defending companies one day and employees the next. We do not. Our entire practice is built around one mission: protecting and enforcing the rights of the California worker.

We fight on behalf of aggrieved employees who are mistreated at work or wrongfully terminated. When someone is stripped of their livelihood through no fault of their own — because of a protected characteristic like race, age, sex, disability, religion, or sexual orientation, or because they dared to report wrongdoing — they need a voice. We are that voice.

We also believe workers deserve the truth about their employer. Too many companies tell employees they are “like family,” then discard them the moment it is convenient. Your employer is not your family. If your workplace loyalty was repaid with a wrongful termination, an unpaid wage, or a hostile environment, you may have a legal claim, and you deserve to know what it is worth.

Meet Attorney Briana Kim

Briana M. Kim is the founder and principal of the Law Office of Briana Kim, PC. She has focused her entire legal career on labor and employment litigation, representing employees against employers in individual and class claims for workplace discrimination, wrongful termination, and wage-and-hour violations. Her experience spans harassment, discrimination, retaliation, denial of protected leave (medical condition, disability, FMLA, CFRA, pregnancy), and disputes over overtime, wages, commissions, tips, and meal and rest breaks.

A career built entirely on the employee’s side of the courtroom. Before founding her own firm, Ms. Kim practiced 100% employment litigation on behalf of employees at the Law Offices of Joseph M. Lovretovich, and handled class-action wage-and-hour disputes at Jose Garay, APLC, a boutique class-action firm in Irvine’s “Tech Row,” where she represented workers — including Silicon Valley employees — in claims over layoffs, inadequate severance, and misclassification. She also served as a law clerk in the Hearings Unit of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), where she worked through multiple phases of EEOC proceedings.

Recognized by her peers. Ms. Kim was selected to the Super Lawyers Rising Stars list for Southern California (2015–2018), including recognition on the Up-and-Coming 100 and Up-and-Coming 50: Women Southern California lists — an honor reserved for a small percentage of attorneys.

Giving back. Ms. Kim’s commitment to workers extends beyond her paying clients. She began her employment law work as a legal intern at Neighborhood Legal Services (NLS) in El Monte, and continues to volunteer at NLS’s free legal clinic, helping community members with Labor Code violations, wrongful discharge, and wage-and-hour issues.

Credentials

• Licensed California attorney — State Bar of California No. 255966; practicing since 2008
• Admitted to practice in California state and federal courts, and in Illinois
• J.D., Loyola Law School, Los Angeles (2007)
• B.A., with honors, Human Development, University of California, San Diego (2003)
• Fluent in English and Korean; conversational in French

Learn More About Briana Here

A Track Record of Real Results

Experience is only worth what it delivers for clients. Over her career, Ms. Kim has recovered significant results for California employees across both class-action and individual cases:

Wage-and-hour class actions

• $2.425 million — wage-and-hour class action against a large educational services company
• $1.6 million — wage-and-hour class action against a telecommunications employer
• $1.4 million — wage-and-hour class action against a staffing agency and aftermarket automotive employer

Individual discrimination, harassment & retaliation (FEHA)

• $1 million — individual disability discrimination (FEHA) case against a large multinational company
• $600,000 — individual disability discrimination (FEHA) case against a large multinational company
• $400,000 — arbitration award in a sexual harassment (FEHA) case against a large multinational company
• $400,000 — individual sex/pregnancy discrimination (FEHA) case against a large multinational company
• $230,000 — individual disability discrimination (FEHA) case against a large nonprofit

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is different, and the value of any claim depends on its specific facts.

What Makes Our Firm Different

We take on the biggest employers. Our results include class actions and FEHA cases against large multinational corporations, telecommunications and educational-services companies, staffing agencies, and nonprofits. We are not intimidated by size.

Class-action experience most boutique firms don’t have. Wage-and-hour class and representative actions (including PAGA) are complex and resource-intensive. Ms. Kim built her career on them. So a single unpaid-wage problem affecting an entire workforce is exactly the kind of case we know how to handle.

Severance and separation guidance before you sign. Whether you are a front-line employee or a senior executive, we review and negotiate severance agreements so you understand what you are giving up, and what you may be owed, before you sign anything.

Bilingual advocacy. Ms. Kim is fluent in Korean, and our team is proud to serve Southern California’s diverse workforce. Many clients know her as the “Korean Lawyer Friend.”

Boutique attention, contingency representation. You work directly with an experienced employment attorney and her team, not a rotating case mill. Most employee cases are handled on a contingency basis, which means you typically pay no attorney’s fees unless we recover for you. Consultations are always free and confidential.

Areas We Serve

We represent employees throughout Los Angeles County and Orange County, with offices in:

• Long Beach — 249 East Ocean Blvd, Ste 814, Long Beach, CA 90802
• La Palma — 6 Centerpointe Dr, Ste 700, La Palma, CA 90623

We regularly help workers in Long Beach, Lakewood, Signal Hill, Carson, Cerritos, La Palma, Buena Park, Cypress, Fullerton, La Mirada, Tustin, Mission Viejo, and the surrounding communities.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Briana Kim represent employees or employers?

Employees — exclusively. Our entire practice is dedicated to representing California workers against their employers. We do not defend companies.

What types of employment cases does the firm handle?

We handle wrongful termination, workplace discrimination (including race, sex, age, disability, religion, and sexual orientation), pregnancy and disability discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, whistleblower claims, wage-and-hour disputes, unpaid wages and overtime, employee misclassification, severance agreements, and denial of FMLA, CFRA, and other protected leave.

I was fired, but I’m not sure it was illegal. Should I still contact you?

Yes. Many people cannot tell the difference between a firing that feels unfair and one that is actually unlawful — and that is exactly what a free consultation is for. We will listen to what happened and tell you honestly whether you may have a case. There is no cost and no obligation to find out.

Do I have to pay anything upfront?

Consultations are free, and most employee cases are handled on a contingency basis, meaning you typically pay no attorney’s fees unless we recover compensation for you. We will explain the fee arrangement clearly before you decide to move forward.

Can Briana Kim review my severance agreement before I sign it?

Yes. We regularly review and negotiate severance and separation agreements for employees — from front-line workers to senior executives — to make sure the terms are fair and that you are not unknowingly waiving valuable rights or compensation.

Does the firm handle class actions?

Yes. Ms. Kim has extensive wage-and-hour class-action experience and has recovered multi-million-dollar results in class claims against large employers. If your employer’s pay practices affected an entire group of workers, we want to hear about it.

Does anyone at the firm speak Korean?

Yes. Attorney Briana Kim is fluent in Korean and is proud to serve Southern California’s Korean-speaking community.

What areas does the firm serve?

We represent employees across Los Angeles County and Orange County from our offices in Long Beach and La Palma, including the surrounding communities of Lakewood, Signal Hill, Carson, Cerritos, Buena Park, Cypress, Fullerton, La Mirada, Tustin, and Mission Viejo.

Talk to the Wage Recovery Queen®

If you were fired, harassed, denied leave, or cheated out of the pay you earned, do not wait — many employment claims are subject to strict deadlines. Find out where you stand in a free, confidential consultation.

Call (714) 482-6301 or request your free consultation today.