Sarju A. Naran Elevated to Shareholder

We are pleased to announce that Hoge Fenton attorney Sarju A. Naran has been elevated to shareholder, effective January 1, 2014.

“I am thrilled to deepen my commitment to the firm, and will strive to uphold the standard of excellence that has been set by our existing group of shareholders and our distinguished predecessors,” Naran said. Hoge Fenton was established in 1952.

Chair of the firm’s Employment Law group, Naran attended high school in Watsonville and received his undergraduate degree from Santa Clara University. He earned his J.D., with distinction, from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law.

For more than 12 years, Naran has counseled and litigated on behalf of employers on complex and high risk issues, including wage and hour, employee and independent contractor classifications, employee mobility, trade secrets misappropriation, non-compete and non-solicitation agreements, executive compensation, harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and performance management.

Naran’s foreign and domestic business clients with operations and employees in California value his in-depth knowledge of state-specific nuances in employment law – particularly critical in the context of global merger & acquisition deals. Naran also exemplifies Hoge Fenton’s commitment to providing holistic services to its business clients by regularly partnering with the firm’s attorneys in other practice areas, including mergers & acquisitions, tax, intellectual property, and real estate.

“People are what interest me, and what drove me toward wanting to practice employment law exclusively. At the heart of every company is its employees. Employees can be a company’s greatest asset and also its greatest source of legal risk. I enjoy collaborating with employers to shape their employment practices, develop their corporate culture, address compliance issues strategically, and navigate through disputes that are often emotionally charged. With employment law, you may see similar fact patterns between companies, but you never see the same personalities,” said Naran.

Managing shareholder, Daniel W. Ballesteros, said, “We congratulate Sarju on this achievement and our shareholders could not be happier to have him join us. Sarju’s client specific, hands-on personal approach to serving our clients is one of many reasons why we are the smart alternative to ‘big law.’”