Attorneys

Sandra Woliver is a Shareholder in the San Francisco office and is a member of the Labor, Employment and Personnel (LEAP) Practice Group. She served as chair of the firm’s LEAP Practice Group from 2003-2008. Sandra has represented and advised school districts in all areas of the law since 1978. She began her career as in-house counsel for the Oakland Unified School District, and shortly thereafter joined an education law firm which is now Dannis Woliver Kelley. She earned statewide recognition for her expertise representing school districts in all aspects of special education compliance and litigation.  She now specializes in labor and personnel, the Brown Act and other school board issues for school districts and county offices of education. She has represented school districts and county offices of education in a variety of important lawsuits involving teacher layoffs, wrongful termination, student issues and special education.

She is an experienced labor negotiator and provides counsel to many school districts in the Brown Act, elections law, and labor and personnel matters, including labor contract interpretation and administration, disability and discrimination, discipline and evaluation. She has represented clients in many cases before PERB, arbitrators and the Office of Administrative Hearings. She is recognized as an expert for her ability to assist superintendents and board members in navigating the intricacies of the Education Code and the open meeting requirements in the Brown Act. Sandra has trained aspiring superintendents, human resource administrators and special education directors. She is a frequent presenter at workshops and conferences for school administrators and board members, including for ACSA, CSBA, SSDA and regional groups. Sandra serves on the Advisory Board for the Family Service Agency of Marin, a non-profit that provides a wide range of mental health and related services to low- income individuals and families. She also studied for a year at the University of Madrid, Spain, and is fluent in Spanish.

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