New Staff: Richa Amar Takes it to the (Legal) Limit

January 2012

New UNAC/UHCP staff attorney Richa Amar decided to join the labor movement after participating in a legal clinic where she represented garment workers before the Los Angeles Office of the Labor Commissioner.  Yet she also credits her aunt with her decision to become a labor lawyer.  When she was narrowing in on her life’s path, Richa had a conversation with her aunt about a bygone injustice that imperiled her aunt’s career.  Her aunt’s union stood up for her, and years later she felt her successful career as a professor may not have been possible without the help of her union at that pivotal moment. “Her story impacted me because it showed me how important it can be, even for a well-educated professional, to have a democratic organization rooted in collective action fighting for your rights,” says Richa.  “And, over the last six years that I’ve represented unions, I’ve seen firsthand their importance for all types of workers.“

Richa comes to us from a law firm in Pasadena, where she represented unions before state and federal courts, arbitrators, and administrative agencies.  She attended UC Berkeley, and later obtained her law degree from UCLA.