Bernard Alexander is a trial attorney who prosecutes demanding private and public sector employment litigation. He has tried over sixty cases to verdict, and he has won six-, seven- and eight-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 $136.9 million verdict in a race harassment case against Tesla.
Bernard has earned numerous professional recognitions and honors, including:
- 2020, 2021 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
- 2019-2021 Top 100 Attorneys in California
- 2016 CELA Joe Posner Award Recipient
- 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: 2009 through 2021 (published by Los Angeles Magazine and Law & Politics)
- Top 100 Southern California Super Lawyers, by Los Angeles Magazine and Law & Politics: 2015 – 2019, 2021.
- Best Lawyers in America – Employment Law – Individuals: From August 2014 to the present, I was honored as “Best Lawyers in America – Employment Law – Individuals” in the Los Angeles Area.
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. He is also a member of the Board of Trustee for Southwestern University School of Law, and a board member of non-profits Legal Aid at Work and Stand Up for Workers.
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.
