Ed Zappia

All ZLF cases are handled only by experienced partners from beginning to end, and not handed off to less experienced attorney for primary handling:

Ed Zappia is one of California's preeminent labor & employment lawyers defending public and private employers' management rights in all aspects of labor and employment law and litigation since 1994. He has defended 100s of civil employment lawsuits alleging harassment, discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination, breach of contract, and related claims. He has defended over 30 FLSA and Labor Code class and collective actions in California, Texas, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, and Florida; has tried over 25 employment cases in state and federal courts; has handled over 50 appeals in the California Court of Appeal, with 4 published opinions; has defended 100s of administrative hearings and arbitrations involving employee discipline and grievances, as well as labor union-employer disputes and unfair labor practice charges; conducted over 50 personnel investigations, many involving high level executives and elected officials; and provides employers with advice and counsel in a wide array of labor and employer law and litigation matters, including the FEHA, CFRA, FMLA, ADA, FLSA, Labor Code, and public entity issues involving the Public Records Act and Brown Act, and various public employee and police and fire disciplinary matters and due process rights.

Ed graduated from UCLA in 1986 with a degree in Political Science/Economics. He then graduated from Musician’s Institute in Hollywood in 1987 with a degree in Rock, Blues, and Jazz Guitar. After failing to become a rock star, in 1991 at the age of 28 he attended Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles and graduated in 1994.

Ed started as an associate attorney for management defense lawyer Linnda Miller-Savitt. From 1996 to 2001 he was an associate at public entity boutique LIEBERT CASSIDY. Seeking a higher level of practice, in 2001 Ed Zappia went on to became an equity partner and Director of Public Sector Litigation in the Los Angeles office of the national labor and employment law firm JACKSON LEWIS. He founded THE ZAPPIA LAW FIRM in 2008.

After thinking about retiring by 2019, Ed has instead continued working a managed case load because he wants to, likes to, is very good at it, and no longer because he has to.

Ed spends his free time playing and collecting guitars, recording in his studio, working out, with pets, riding motorcycles, traveling, and with his wife and college-aged daughter.

Files coming soon.

Anna Zappia

Anna Zappia has unparalleled education and experience.
She holds two degrees from Oxford (2001 and 2025), is a Stanford undergrad, and a Northwestern University School of Law graduate, magna cum laude.
After law school, she served as federal appellate clerk to The Honorable David A. Nelson on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeal. She continued to hone her appellate advocacy skills under Ken Starr at Kirkland & Ellis. When Mr. Starr was recalled to the White House, Anna transferred to a premier entertainment boutique in Century City, where she specialized in copyrights, trademarks and high-stakes contractual and intellectual property and employment disputes and appeals in LA's entertainment industry. She continued focusing on appellate work, successfully taking the Cheers case (Wendt & Ratzenberger v. Paramount Pictures) up to the U.S. Supreme Court.
A few years later, she met her husband, Ed Zappia, and followed him when he opened his ZLF in 2008. Despite her better judgment, she has been at ZLF ever since, where she has served as Managing Partner for a decade and continued to specialize in appellate work, winning several prominent reversals including a Writ on the eve of trial.
She likes kittens and bunny rabbits and basically all furry animals.

Files coming soon.