Lauren N. Vega, Esq. is a labor and employment attorney and principal of Ferraro Vega Employment Lawyers.  She is based in San Diego, California.  Lauren dedicates her practice to wage and hour class, collective, and representative actions on behalf of employees throughout the United States.

In 2021, the San Diego Business Journal named Lauren as a finalist for the Leaders in Law Awards, which recognizes San Diego’s top lawyers and in-house counsel attorneys.  For consecutive years, she has been recognized by U.S. News with the distinction of The Best Lawyers in America “Ones to Watch” for class action attorneys, and as a Rising Star by Thomson Reuters’ Super Lawyers rating service in numerous employment law and class action categories.

Lauren represents employees in all types of employment cases, including those for unpaid wages, wrongful termination, discrimination, retaliation, and harassment, and issues related to leaves and accommodations.  Lauren’s practice focuses on cases arising under the Labor Code, Private Attorneys General Act, Fair Labor Standards Act, Fair Employment and Housing Act, and California’s Unfair Competition Law.

Throughout her career, Lauren has achieved great success for her clients. She began her career defending wage and hour class and PAGA lawsuits on behalf of large employers as an attorney at Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch, San Diego’s largest full service law firm.  Lauren has advised companies on virtually every type of employment decision and workplace policy.

Lauren Vega is a skilled litigator in state and federal courts who has handled nearly one hundred wage and hour class action lawsuits throughout her career.

Background & Education

Lauren was born and raised in San Bernardino, California.  She is a graduate of Cajon High School, UC San Diego, and the University of San Diego School of Law.  During law school, Lauren was a member of the San Diego Law Review and played intramural softball on a team called “Torts Illustrated.”

She also worked as a legal extern for the U.S. Department of Justice and as a judicial extern to federal judges in the Southern and Central Districts of California.

Lauren represented USD Law in the Duberstein Moot Court Competition, one of the nation’s preeminent moot court tournaments held in NYC, where she advanced to the semi-finals in consecutive years, received the Outstanding Brief Award in her first year, and the Best Brief Award in her second year.

Lauren also received honors as the top student in her Bankruptcy and Legal Drafting classes.

Publications and Presentations

Lauren regularly writes and speaks on labor and employment law issues, and has had articles published in the Los Angeles Daily Journal and in client alerts and newsletters.

She has presented on topics such as “Preventing Wage and Hour Liability in California” and “Conducting Effective Workplace Investigations” at Procopio’s Annual Labor & Employment Seminars, and has guest lectured in employment law courses at the University of San Diego School of Law.

Lauren has also conducted employer workforce trainings and audits and presented at various roundtables, panels, and seminars involving employers and employees.

Litigation Experience

Lauren has substantial litigation experience as a defense attorney and now in her own practice representing employees. Lauren litigates class and PAGA actions involving unpaid overtime, unpaid meal and rest period premiums, unpaid minimum wage, unreimbursed expenses, regular rate of pay violations, inaccurate and incomplete wage statements, paid sick leave violations, vacation payouts, among other types of employment violations.

Lauren also has extensive experience handling cases of wrongful termination, whistleblower retaliation, and discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.