California trial and appellate lawyer. Employment, personal injury, and sexual abuse cases — for the person, never the institution. 

If an employer fired or harassed you, a crash or a dangerous property injured you, or an institution failed to protect you from abuse, I'm the lawyer who takes your side — in the trial court and on appeal. I don't represent employers, insurers, or institutions, and I never have.

Book a free 15-minute case review or Text/Call (805) 630-3245

What I do

Pletcher Law, APC is a plaintiff-side firm based in Westlake Village. I represent people throughout Ventura County — Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Camarillo, Oxnard, Ventura — Los Angeles County, Kern County, and I take cases anywhere in California when the case is right. Three kinds of cases:

Employment — employees only. Sexual harassment, retaliation and whistleblower claims, discrimination, wrongful termination, unpaid wages, and arbitration disputes. California's protections for workers are stronger than federal law, and I start every case with California law first. Employment →

Personal injury. Car and motorcycle crashes, falls, and dangerous conditions on someone else's property. The insurer's job is to pay you as little as it can; mine is to make the number reflect what actually happened to you. Personal injury →

Sexual abuse and assault. Cases against the people who did it and the institutions that let it happen — schools, employers, programs, and organizations that had a duty to protect you and didn't. California has extended the deadlines for many of these claims, and the first conversation is confidential. Sexual abuse →

Most of my career has been spent on the part of a case that decides it: the motions, the briefs, and the appeals. That's why other plaintiff-side firms bring me in on theirs. When you hire me, you get that work done by the person who's going to argue it.

The record

Most lawyer bios say “aggressive” and “experienced.” These are court records with my name printed in them. You can read every one on the court's own website. Most are employment cases — that's where published appellate decisions come from — but the work is the same in an injury or abuse case: the brief, the motion, the argument.

•          Romero v. County of Kern (2025) 116 Cal.App.5th 1189 — Published. A Kern County fire captain fired after reporting a safety violation. The Court of Appeal held public employees don't have to finish an internal civil-service appeal before suing for whistleblower retaliation. I wrote the briefs and argued the appeal.

•          Velarde v. Monroe Operations, LLC (2025) 111 Cal.App.5th 1009 — Published. An arbitration agreement held unenforceable because the employer's HR manager misrepresented what the employee was signing. I briefed and argued it.

•          Okonowsky v. Garland, 109 F.4th 1166 (9th Cir. 2024) — Published. The Ninth Circuit held that a coworker's harassing social-media posts can count as workplace harassment, reversing summary judgment for the employer. I argued it.

•          Elizabeth v. Palumbo (Cal. Ct. App. 2026, No. D086913) — A sexual-harassment judgment and fee award against a small employer, affirmed on appeal. I wrote the respondent's brief and argued it, with D. Aaron Brock and Cory Hurwitz of Brock & Gonzales.

•          Biel v. St. James School and Morrissey-Berru v. Our Lady of Guadalupe School (9th Cir. 2019) — I handled both Ninth Circuit appeals for the teachers and won both. The U.S. Supreme Court later took the cases up and reversed, 7–2. 

All case results →

Before the law

I spent nine years working restaurant floors and six years co-owning a craft cocktail bar in Westlake Village. I've been the employee who didn't get the break he was owed, and I've been the owner reading the Labor Code at midnight trying to get it right. That's why I only take the individual's side now — and why I can tell you, quickly, whether an employer's or an insurer's story holds up.

Before opening Pletcher Law, I was a Deputy City Attorney and Deputy Director of Economic & Community Development for the City of Palmdale, which is where I learned how public employers actually make decisions — useful when your employer is a city, a county, or a school district.

Background

•          Education: J.D., Southwestern Law School, Los Angeles · B.A., California State University, Northridge

•          Admissions: State Bar of California (No. 299437) · U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Central District of California · Eastern District of California 

•          Practice: Founder, Pletcher Law, APC (Westlake Village) · Of counsel and appellate counsel to plaintiff-side firms across California

How to reach me

The first conversation is a free 15-minute call. I'll listen, tell you whether you have a case, and tell you what the deadlines are. If I'm not the right lawyer, I'll tell you who is. No attorney's fee unless we win. Nobody on the other side finds out you called.

Book a free 15-minute case review or Text/Call (805) 630-3245

Pletcher Law, APC · Westlake Village, California · Andrew S. Pletcher, State Bar No. 299437. Attorney advertising. The information on this page is general information, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.