Sabrina M. Punia-Ly

Sabrina’s diverse litigation background allows her to successfully represent clients in a variety of employment matters, including, but not limited to medical residency terminations, breach of employment contract, discrimination and harassment, violations of disability and medical leave laws, unfair competition, retaliation, workplace torts such as defamation and wrongful termination in violation of public policy, retaliation for patient safety claims under Health and Safety Code section 1278.5 and Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (Anti-SLAPP) suits.  In addition, Sabrina litigates individual, representative and class action wage-and-hour lawsuits alleging claims such as denial of meal periods and rest breaks, misclassification of employees, non-payment of wages, off-the-clock work, unlawful commission and bonus plans, and violations of statutory pay provisions.

Likewise, Sabrina has industry specific knowledge and experience of employment-related disputes in the health care context.  This experience includes:

• Medical Residency Terminations:  Sabrina is familiar with the unique hybrid employee-physician status of a medical resident.  She understands how medical residency programs operate and what is required for a medical resident to successfully complete such program, including but not limited to the satisfying the USLME and ACGME milestones.  Sabrina has represented and counseled medical residency programs in lawsuits alleging wrongful termination, discrimination, and retaliation.  She has experience with the special due process requirements that require a medical resident receive a GME program hearing prior to the finality of any adverse action as well as any subsequent judicial review of such adverse action.

• Medical Staff Counseling and Peer Review: Sabrina has extensive experience representing and counseling medical staffs, hospitals, and hospital systems in relation to medical staff peer review issues. She provides counseling with respect to decisions to remediate, suspend, or terminate providers that have engaged in a pattern of unprofessional conduct and/or adverse clinical outcomes.  She also counsels clients regarding provider credentialing and re-credentialing and the filing of Business and Professions Code section 805 and the National Practitioner Data Bank reports. She also has experience through the varying stages of the peer review hearing process.
• Medical Provider Networks: Sabrina has related experience representing and counseling health care clients with respect to provider selection and removal disputes.  Additionally, Sabrina advises health care clients concerning quality assurance, credentialing, and general risk management issues and helps health care clients develop and revise internal policies and procedures to help avoid litigation exposure.
• Operational and Regulatory Counseling: As for operational counseling and regulatory compliance, Sabrina has assisted major health plans revise policies in relation to licensing, peer review, and the COVID-19 pandemic.  Sabrina has also advised clients with respect to consent issues, the state and federal False Claims Act, regulations set forth by The Centers of Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), provider licensing, EMTALA, Anti-Kickback, and Stark Laws.

• Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America^® "Ones to Watch" for Health Care Law and Labor and Employment Law - Management (2024-2025)

• National Asian Pacific American Bar Association
  • Health Law Committee Co-Chair and Member (2018 – Present)
• Orange County Asian American Bar Association
  • Director (2018 – Present)
• South Asian Bar Association Public Interest Foundation
  • Treasurer (2020 – Present)
• LACBA Health Law Section Committee

Sabrina enjoys running, bubble tea, and movie theatre popcorn. She also loves spending time with her dog, Nala.

• “SB 1241: Choice of law in contracts,” Daily Journal, January 2017. 
• Gamechangers and Tightrope Walkers – How Digital Health Companies Can Balance Innovation and Government Compliance with Data Use, Artificial Intelligence, and Virtual Health, NAPABA Convention 2019, November 9, 2019 (moderator)