Meet Susan Swan, trial attorney and owner of Swan Employment Law

Meet Susan Swan, trial attorney and owner of Swan Employment Law – a firm dedicated to providing tenacious and agile advocacy for employees who have been treated unfairly in the workplace. Susan received a B.A. in sociology, with a Concentration in Analysis and Research, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of Law. Susan holds years of experience as a practicing attorney in employment law and has been recognized as one of San Diego’s best employment attorneys as well as one of San Diego’s Top 25 Women Attorneys.

This interview has been written and transcribed by Grace Yarosewick, a 3L student at the Widener University Delaware School of Law.

How did you become interested in working in employment law?

I have always taken an interest in discrimination, harassment, and retaliation cases because they’re all about human behavior, which fascinates me. Prior to law school, I studied sociology with a quantitative emphasis and went on to work at the United States Census Bureau which has a huge responsibility in obtaining statistics about poverty, educational attainment, and social stratification. I’ve been concerned about economic inequality since I was in college, and I’m one of those people who works to change the system from within or, in other words, do good within the system. This is why I felt that being an advocate for employee rights was a good fit for me.

Upon graduating from law school, my goal was to work for a firm that represented unions – and I did just that. I got a job in Los Angeles representing labor unions, but labor law is quite an administrative field, and I was itching for more opportunities to go be in the courtroom, and to have direct contact with individual clients. I went on to work for the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office and obtained lots of trial and hearings experience, but I knew that wasn’t my long-term career.

What made you want to open your own law firm?

In 2009, after leaving the Ventura DA’s Office, I hustled and networked my way into a position at an employee rights boutique firm. I cold-emailed the firm owner. I told him that I had a lot of trial experience, and sent my resume. I was naively unaware at the time that the legal field was in a recession, but he hired me for $15.00 an hour, and put me into an office that was basically a large closet. I started there by really just observing, learning, and working really hard. I then became interested in marketing, I started doing the marketing for the firm, and I was unexpectedly really good at it.

I also joined the local feminist bar association, the county bar association, and the plaintiff’s bar association – working on committees and attending events that truly interested me. I connected with other attorneys in these organizations, and through these connections, I brought in a lot of cases to the firm. I realized, “I am bringing in these cases, I am doing the work, but I’m not the one keeping most of the money.” I decided to open my own law firm.

What advice would you give regarding dealing with the financial side of getting started and

opening your own law firm?

It’s good to try to save some money before you start, but that’s not always possible. I kind of surprised myself with how quickly I decided to start my own firm, so I didn’t have a chance to save beforehand. As a solo, it’s important to have good credit. I’ve definitely had to take out loans to keep my firm going –it can be difficult. It can be stressful. At times, I need to run the firm as leanly as possible, and to be scrappy.

How do you deal with the emotional side of the type of work you do?

I do feel emotionally connected to my clients, and I’m quite empathetic, so I try to remove myself from the emotional impact, and take care of myself. I practice Iyengar yoga, which is focused on alignment and is very precise and patient; I lift weights; I swim. I also run on the beach, and sometimes that’s when I generate some of my best ideas for case strategy. I’m married and I have two daughters, ages four and six. I try to spend as much time with them as I can. When I’m with them, I try my best not to check my email and really remove myself from work, but it can be difficult.

Usually by the time a case resolves, I’m ready to move onto the next case.

What advice do you have for law students who are planning to become practicing attorneys?

Use all of the resources that you have on hand. Show up, be friendly, reach out. Ask for advice,ask “who else should I talk to?”, and send thank you notes. The best career advice I’ve ever heard is to find out what you love to do and are good at, then figure out how to delegate the rest. To do that, try to learn as much as possible in the opportunities you do have. Winnow down what you are interested in, and what you are not interested in, both in terms of areas of the law, and in terms of different tasks in the practice of law.

In terms of improving trial advocacy skills, go to as many trainings as you can. However, nothing beats real life trial experience. The best way to learn trial skills is to be a prosecutor, public defender, or a JAG in the military. Those are the jobs that get a lot of trial experience, and it’s especially good to do so early in your career when you have more energy, and may not have as many responsibilities outside of your job, because trial is exhausting!