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Charlie Firth focuses his practice on employment law, including litigation, employer counseling and class actions.  Throughout his legal career, Charlie has maintained as his guiding principle aggressive and ethical representation in pursuit of the best possible solutions for each of his clients.  The diversity of Charlie's experience helps him identify and address a wide variety of client needs.  While Charlie has consistently practiced in employment law matters, he also has experience in litigating cases involving consumer class actions, government fraud (False Claims Act), personal injury, sexual abuse, medical malpractice, legal malpractice and commercial disputes.  Charlie is a native Minnesotan who graduated from the University of Minnesota Law School, and returned to Minnesota in 2007 after practicing law in Washington, D.C., Cambodia and New Mexico.

Charlie's employment law expertise is broad, as he has successfully represented clients in matters involving federal and state Fair Labor Standards Act wage and hour collective and class actions, sexual harassment, gender, race, disability and sexual orientation discrimination, retaliation, whistleblower, workers' compensation retaliation, and FMLA retaliation.  Notably, Charlie has fought for his clients' rights in high-profile cases of a national scope, including being appointed as class co-counsel in Dukes, et al. v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., working to recover over $300 million from the oil industry in a Federal False Claims Act case, U.S. ex rel. Johnson v. Shell Oil Co., and bringing cases that resulted in the recovery of more than $30 million under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act.  Charlie's international legal experience includes directly advising the Cambodian government, non-governmental organizations and private sector clients in efforts to strengthen the rule of law, assist in rebuilding Cambodia's judicial system and prepare legislation relating to the management of the country's natural heritage, including its national parks and other protected areas.  In particular, Charlie advised and counseled multinational corporations on their compliance with Cambodian and international law with regard to labor, employment, commercial, corporate and contract matters.

Areas of Practice:

• Employment Law
• Civil Litigation
• Class Action
• Government Fraud

Bar Admissions:

• State of Minnesota
• State of New Mexico (inactive)
• District of Columbia (former)
• U.S. District Court for Minnesota
• U.S. District Court for New Mexico
• U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

Education:

• University of Minnesota Law School, J.D., cum laude
• Northwestern University, B.A.

Professional Associations and Memberships:

• Minnesota State Bar Association
• New Mexico State Bar Association
• District of Columbia Bar Association (former)

Publications and Presentations:

• “Adapting to Change" . . .  ADAAA and Mental Health Issues in the Workplace, Engelmeier & Umanah Seminar, November 2012, Co-Author

• Potential Ethical Issues Arising Out of Counsel Representing the Union and Individuals, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Attorneys' Conference, October, 2000 (co-author).
• Respectful Workplace or Hostile Environment?  What Does Your Team Look Like and What Must the Employer Do?, Minnesota Symposium on Terrorism and Emergency Preparedness, November, 2009 (co-presenter).
• After the Crash, Minnesota School Bus Operators Association and Minnesota Association for Pupil Transportation Winter Conference, January, 2010 (presenter).
• Returning to Work, University of Minnesota Medical School Survivorship Series, Moving Beyond Cancer, April, 2010 (presenter).