Stephanie E. Yasuda

principal

 
Headshot of Attorney Stephanie E. Yasuda

Stephanie Yasuda is partner with Yoon Law, APC in Pasadena, California. For over a decade, she has dedicated her career to class action and representative action litigation, with a special focus in employment-related matters. Ms. Yasuda has considerable experience representing employees in all industries throughout California, and she routinely engages in complex litigation in cases alleging meal period and rest break violations, unpaid minimum and overtime wages, unpaid off-the-clock work, unreimbursed business expenses, employee misclassification, and inaccurate wage statements. Ms. Yasuda pursues cases through all phases of litigation, from pre-filing investigation through trial and appeal. She has served as class counsel in numerous cases in both state and federal courts, and has obtained multi-million-dollar judgments on behalf of thousands of employees. She is admitted to practice in the Courts of the State of California, all United States District Courts of California, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.

In the last few years, Ms. Yasuda has focused heavily on the class certification and appellate stages of litigation, arguing many heavily-disputed and novel issues of law. Recent representative matters include:

  • Winning a verdict of over $6 million in a federal class action against a Fortune 50 company alleging violations of California’s meal period laws

  • Persuading the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal to grant interlocutory review of a class certification decision in a consumer action against a national chain restaurant

  • Securing the Ninth Circuit’s order affirming the denial of a motion to compel arbitration in a case against a Fortune 50 company

  • Obtaining class certification in an action on behalf of drilling field workers

  • Obtaining class certification in an action on behalf of truck drivers

  • Obtaining class certification and reaching settlement in a case alleging the misclassification of delivery drivers

  • Securing reversal by the Ninth Circuit of the dismissal of a claim under California’s Private Attorneys’ General Act of 2004 (“PAGA”), and obtaining a precedent-setting decision regarding the parameters of the disclosure duties under the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a) with respect to PAGA

Ms. Yasuda currently serves as a member of the Wage and Hour Committee for the California Employment Lawyers Association (“CELA”), a statewide organization of over 1,200 California employee rights advocates. She has been selected as a “Super Lawyer” by California Super Lawyers Magazine for the years 2020 through 2023 after having been recognized as a Rising Star by that publication for the years 2018 and 2019.

Prior to joining Yoon Law, Ms. Yasuda received her J.D., cum laude, Order of the Coif, in 2009 from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, where she graduated in the top 10% of her class. During law school, she served as an editor of the Public Interest Law Journal and a board member of the Public Interest Law Foundation, and she competed as part of Loyola’s three-member team in the LAWASIA International Moot Court Competition. She also completed internships with the ACLU of Southern California and the Disability Rights Legal Center.

Education

J.D., cum laude, Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, 2009

  • Competitor, LAWASIA International Moot Court

  • Editor, Public Interest Law Journal

  • Recipient, Ahmanson Scholarship

  • Board Member, Public Interest Law Foundation

B.A., cum laude, California State University, Fullerton, 2005

  • Member, Golden Key International Honour Society

  • Member, National Society of Collegiate Scholars

 

Awards & honors

Law Dragon (2020, 2022, 2023, and 2024) 500 Leading Plaintiff Employment Lawyers

Southern California Super Lawyers Rising Stars, 2018-2019

Southern California Super Lawyers, Super Lawyer, 2020-2024

 

Memberships & Affiliations

Member, California Employment Lawyers Association

Member, Japanese American Bar Association

 

Bar Admissions

Supreme Court of the United States

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California

State of California