Bernard Alexander is a trial attorney who prosecutes demanding private and public sector employment litigation. He has tried over fifty cases to verdict, and he has won six- and seven-figure judgments for claims of discrimination, harassment and retaliation based on gender, race, age, sex, sexual orientation and disability. He has resolved dozens of binding arbitrations and hundreds of mediations with successful results. Most recently he obtained a $3 million verdict for a security guard who was terminated for “job abandonment” after he took emergency leave from work to care for his school age daughter.
Bernard has earned numerous professional recognitions and honors, including:
- 2023 John M. Langston Bar Association’s Loren Miller Lawyer of the Year
- 2022 CAALA Trial Lawyer of the Year
- Voted Charles B. O’Reilly Memorial “Trial Lawyer of the Year” by the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA) (2022), a membership organization of approximately three thousand members. One of only six (6) employment lawyers out of the fifty-two (52) individuals who have received this honor since 1972.
- 2022 Cover photo and article in Southern California SuperLawyer
- 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 Top 10 Southern California SuperLawyer
- 2021 American College of Trial Lawyers Fellow
- 2020 College of Labor & Employment Lawyers Fellow
- 2020 LACBA Jim Robie Professionalism and Civility Award
- An award given to a Los Angeles trial lawyer, active in the Los Angeles County Bar Association, acknowledging recognition from the plaintiff and defense bar, as well as the judiciary, whose career demonstrates qualities of professionalism, civility, service, enthusiasm and collegiality.
- 2019-2022 Top 100 Attorneys in California
- 2016 CELA Joe Posner Award Recipient
- Awarded the California Employment Lawyers’ Association “Joe Posner Award,” CELA’s highest individual recognition for a career dedicated to advancing employee rights. CELA is a statewide organization of over twelve hundred employee rights lawyers – the largest statewide employee rights organization in the Country.
- 2019 “Lawyer of the Year” Honoree for Employment Law, Best Lawyers Southern California (published November 2018)
- Daily Journal’s Top 75 California Labor and Employment Lawyers, 2012 to present
- American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) Associate, 2013
- SuperLawyer – Employment Litigation: 2010 through 2024 (published by Los Angeles Magazine and Law & Politics)
- Top 100 Southern California Super Lawyers, by Los Angeles Magazine and Law & Politics: 2015 – 2019, 2021-2024
- 2023 CABL (California Assoc. of Black Lawyers) Advocate for Social Justice Award
- 2023, 2024 Lawdragon 500 Leading Civil Rights & Plaintiff Employment Lawyers
- 2024 Best Lawyers Lawyer of the Year – Employment Law – Individuals in Los Angeles, August 2014 to present
He is a past President of the California Employment Lawyers Association (CELA) (2014, 2015). He created the CELA Annual Trial College in 2014.
Bernard is a frequent speaker on trial, litigation and employment law issues. His litigation skills are enhanced by his insurance background, particularly his experience handling special investigation (“fraud”) claims. He has qualified to testify as an expert witness on insurance claims handling and has lectured extensively on varied coverage and claims issues.
He is currently an executive board member of the National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA), President of the Foundation for Advocacy Inclusion & Resources (FAIR), a non-profit devoted to promoting diversity in the plaintiffs’ employment bar, and a Legal Aid at Work board member. He is also a member of the Labor and Employment Law Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association (LACBA), Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA) and Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC), and a lifetime member of both the Langston Bar Association and the UCLA Alumni Association. Bernard is also Adjunct Professor at USC Gould School of Law, teaching employment dispute resolution.
Bernard holds degrees from Southwestern University School of Law and the University of California, Los Angeles, in English and Political Science, and is admitted to practice before all of the courts of the State of California, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the United States District Court for the Central and Southern Districts of California.