David Sanford is the founder and Chairman of Sanford Heisler Sharp, a leading national public interest and civil rights firm with a focus on representing employees from the C Suite to line employees. He has been lead counsel in over 50 class actions and numerous whistleblower cases. Among other matters, David was lead counsel in the Novartis gender discrimination matter that yielded a $253 million verdict; class counsel in the $19.5 million gender discrimination settlement against QualComm; lead counsel for dozens of female law partners across America; lead trial counsel in a gender discrimination matter on behalf of a professor against Columbia University, which led to a 7-figure jury verdict; and co-lead counsel in a $762 million settlement against Amgen in a whistleblower case.

David has been recognized as the Labor and Employment Attorney of the Year in both 2019 and 2021 by Benchmark Litigation, the definitive guide to America’s leading litigation firms and attorneys. He was one of three lawyers in the United States named as “Attorney of the Year Finalist” in 2018 by The American Lawyer. In 2022, Chambers described David as one who “tries many high-profile cases and is excellent. He is very smart and has a commanding and powerful presence in court. He is a charismatic person and extremely knowledgeable.”