Lara C. de Leon

Lara is an experienced trial lawyer and client advocate. Her extensive career has involved representing companies of all sizes, across many industries, in all aspects of employment law. Lara has successfully defended clients in the courtroom, before administrative agencies, and on appeal.

In addition to litigation, Lara has spent her two-plus decades of experience partnering with clients to counsel them through complex issues involving discrimination, retaliation, accommodation, and wage and hour compliance. Lara has also developed a passion for guiding clients through high-stakes matters involving pay equity, harassment, leave of absence and accommodations. Lara has had the distinct experience of working as in-house counsel for two large, multi-national corporations, which gives her a unique perspective on how to address the intricate issues facing organizations and their employees.

Lara is an accomplished speaker and presenter, having presented on cutting edge employment law topics at local and national events, as well as many online forums. Lara is Board Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

• BTI Consulting Group Client Service All-Star (2023)
• Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America^® for Litigation - Labor and Employment (2025)

• Board Certified in Labor and Employment Law - Texas Board of Legal Specialization 

• American Bar Association, Labor and Employment Law Section
• Society for Human Resources Management
• California Bar Association
• Texas Bar Association
• San Antonio Bar Association, Section on Labor and Employment Law
• Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of San Antonio
• Bexar County Women’s Bar Association

Lara is blessed to have a very understanding family, including her husband of 20+ years, three children and four pets. Lara is active in her community, volunteering her time with CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) advocating for abused and neglected children, and with a local underperforming elementary school as a student mentor.

• "Examining New Workplace Accommodation Laws on Pregnancy, Religion, and Disability," Today's General Counsel, March 2024
• Quoted in Law360 Employment Authority article, "Federal Employment Cases Hit New Low In 2022," August 2023
• "Nurturing the Next Generation in Legal," Centerforce Driving Diversity in Law & Leadership Conference, June 2023
• "The Pay Equity Landscape from Coast to Coast," San Antonio ILG Meeting, November 2022
• "Mental Health, Alcoholism and Substance Abuse: Issues Employers Cannot Ignore" San Antonio Human Resources Management Association Annual Employment Conference, August 2022
• "Pregnancy & Parenting: Legal Accommodations and Best Practices for HR", Business Management Daily Webinar, July 2022
• "Mental Health, Alcoholism and Substance Abuse: Issues Employers Cannot Ignore", SHRM National Conference, June 2022
• "Workforce Harassment - What Texas Employers Need to Know," SAMA Employment Law Seminar, February 2022
• "Workplace Accommodation Workshop," Veterinary Hospital Managers Association Management Exchange, February 2022
• "Pregnancy & Parenting - Best Practices & Legal Accommodations for Moms and Dads," Business Management Daily, December 2021
• "HR Audits -- Focus Areas for 2022 and Strategies to Minimize Risk," HR Simple, November 2021
• "Workplace Harassment -- What Texas Lawyers Need to know,"MyLawCLE Webinar, September, 2021 
• "Pay Equity: What does it really mean, how do I figure out if I have a problem, and how do I prepare for future claims?," San Antonio Human Resources Management Association, August, 2021
• "Navigating the Patchwork of Pay Equity Laws,"National Industry Liaison Group, 2021 National Conference, August 2021
• "HR Workshop: How to Legally Accommodate Medical & Mental Health Requests," presented for Business Management Daily Webinar, April 2021
• "Updating Your Employment Application: Top 5 Issues You Need to Address Now,"presented for Lorman Education Services, March 2021
• "California Equal Pay Laws and Reporting," National Industry Liaison Group (NILG), January 2021
• “Return-to-Work Policies and Practices: A Legal Workshop,” Business Management Daily Webinar, June 2020
• “Baby on Board: Pregnancy and Parenting in the Workplace,” Business Management Daily Webinar, June 2020
• “Baby on Board: HR, Pregnancy & Accommodating Moms,” Business Management Daily Webinar, February 2020
• “Unjustifiable Wage Gaps: How to Spot and Fix Pay Equity Mistakes to Avoid Legal Risk Under the Equal Pay Act and Title VII” presented for BLR, November, 2019
• “Alcoholism, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Issues in the Workplace” presented to the Association of Corporate Counsel, San Antonio Chapter, November 2019
• “Alcoholism, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Issues in the Workplace” presented at the SHRM NorCal Symposium, October 2019
• “Training with Hindsight: What Your Employment Litigator Wishes You Had Trained Your Workforce to Do” presented at Coastal Bend SHRM, September 2019
• “Training with Hindsight: What Your Employment Litigator Wishes You Had Trained Your Workforce to Do” presented at Rio Grande Valley SHRM, September 2019
• “Wage and Hour Update: What You Need to Know in 2019” presented at the Texas Total Rewards Conference, August 2019
• “When Looks Deceive: Detecting and Accommodating Invisible Disabilities” presented at the SHRM 2019 Annual Conference & Exposition, June 2019
• “Alcoholism, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Issues in the Workplace” presented at the SHRM 2019 Annual Conference & Exposition, June 2019
• “What to Expect When You are Expecting: Protections for Pregnant Workers” presented at the SAHRMA General Membership Meeting, July 2018
• Mental Health, Alcoholism and Substance Abuse: Issues Employers Cannot Ignore" presented at the SHRM Annual Conference, June 2022