Erika Jacobsen White

Erika Jacobsen White practices client-centered trauma informed lawyering. She believes that access to justice happens both inside and outside of the courtroom, and that a good lawyer helps clients feel empowered in the face of a system that is often stacked against them.

Erika practices in the areas of employment discrimination, sexual abuse, civil rights, wage and hour, class action, and whistleblower/qui tam matters. Erika also handles executive employment agreements, severance and non-compete agreements. Her career-long commitment to representing real people facing tough challenges in their lives has resulted in significant results for her clients at trial, mediation, and arbitration – recovering millions of dollars for her clients over the course of her career.

Erika joined Joseph Greenwald & Laake after serving as the Principal of Jacobsen White Law, P.C. in Oakland, California. She is a leader in the employment bar and currently serves on the United States District Court of Maryland’s Fee Petition Appendix B Subcommittee, as a member of the Board of the Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association, on the D.C. Bar’s Labor & Employment Steering Committee, on the Board of the DC Trial Lawyers Association, and is a member of the Maryland State Bar Association’s Labor & Employment Law Council.

Honors
Catherine C. Blake Exceptional Service Award, U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, 2026

The Best Lawyers in America®, 2025–present

Maryland’s Employment Law Power Players, The Daily Record, 2024Bethesda Magazine Top Attorneys, Employment (employee), 2023

Super Lawyers®

Northern California Super Lawyer®, 2018-2020

Northern California Rising Star, 2012-2017

Minority Bar Coalition & Alameda-Contra Costa Trial Lawyers’ Association Unity Award, 2014Consumer Attorneys of California

New Lawyers Division Legacy Award, 2013

New Lawyers Division Chair Award of Merit, 2012, 2014

Consumer Attorneys of California, Presidential Award of Merit, 2010

Affiliations
First Shift Justice Project, Board Chair, 2024, Board Vice-Chair, 2023, Secretary of the Board, 2020

US District Court of Maryland, Member, Appendix B Subcommittee, 2024-2025, Member, Bench Bar Committee, 2025

Media
“Pregnant? Your Employer Must Provide Accommodations,” The Washington Family Magazine (and in affiliate publication, MetroKids Magazine), 2024

Quoted in “Employee Rights Groups Back Worker’s FMLA Fight,” Law360, 2023

JGL Partner to work City of Peace event

Quoted in “Officers Said They Hoped Black Lives Matters Protesters Would Die, Suit Says,” New York Times, 2022

Quoted in “Maryland park police officers said they wanted Black Lives Matter protesters dead, according to lawsuit,” CNN, 2022

Quoted in “Police Officials ‘Frequently Talked About Killing BLM Protesters’: Lawsuit,” 97.9 WJLB, 2022

Quoted in “Black Police Officer’s Lawsuit Against Department Alleges Cops Talked About Killing Black Lives Matter Protesters,” Complex, 2022

Quoted in “New plaintiff claims Liberty University mishandled sexual assault report,” 2022

Speaking Engagements
Panelist, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, Journal of Race, Religion, Gender & Class Symposium, “Equal Pay,” 2024

Panelist, ABA Labor & Employment Law Conference, “Lawyer Wellness: Why Are We All So Cranky?,” 2024

Speaker, National Employment Lawyers’ Association Annual Convention, “Courageous Plaintiff’s Award for Officer Mark Miles for Miles v. Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission,” 2024

MCLE Speaker, ACCTLA: Navigating Disability in the Workplace, 2019

San Francisco State University, Adjunct Professor, “CJ 550: School Violence and Discipline,” 2016

MCLE Speaker, American Association for Justice Convention, Montreal, Canada, “Mediating Employment Cases,” 2015

MCLE Speaker, Consumer Attorneys of California Convention, “Depositions in Employment Cases: Tips for New Lawyers or Lawyers New to Employment Law,” 2014

Mentor, De Anza High School, Law Academy Program of the State Bar of California, 2013-2016, 2018

University of California, Berkeley Law School, Restorative Justice Training, 2014

Panel Moderator and Speaker, “Arbitration After Concepcion,” 2013

Speaker on Consumer/Employment Law, 2012-2015

Speaker, Careers in Employment Law, Golden Gate University School of Law, 2013; University of San Francisco School of Law, 2013; McGeorge School of Law, 2011