Ninel Kocharyan
Ninel Kocharyan is a labor and employment attorney at Ferraro Vega Employment Lawyers. She is based in San Diego, California, and focuses her practice on analyzing and evaluating potential wage and hour class, collective, and representative actions on behalf of employees in California and Washington states.
Ninel has been a licensed attorney since 2014 and has devoted much of her legal career to plaintiff-side employment law, assisting employees in pursuing claims against employers for violations of state and federal labor laws. Her practice has focused primarily on wage and hour matters arising under the California Labor Code, the Private Attorneys General Act, and California’s Unfair Competition Law.
As the Pre-Litigation Director, Ninel plays a key role in the early evaluation and development of employment matters. She works to assess potential claims, identify patterns of unlawful workplace practices, and support the filing of cases intended to obtain meaningful relief for employees.
Background & Education
Ninel immigrated to the United States from Moscow, Russia, when she was 15 years old. From an early age, she knew she wanted to pursue a legal career and developed a strong interest in advocacy and the legal system. She graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a degree in Political Science in 2010 and earned her law degree from Thomas Jefferson School of Law in 2014.
While in law school, Ninel developed a passion for employment law while interning at an employment law firm representing employees in wrongful termination and discrimination matters. That experience helped shape her commitment to employee advocacy and laid the foundation for her work in plaintiff-side labor and employment law.
Litigation Experience
Prior to joining Ferraro Vega Employment Lawyers, Ninel spent nearly five years at another California plaintiff-side law firm, where she helped research, evaluate, and file wage and hour class and PAGA actions. In that role, she assisted with the development of new cases, investigated potential Labor Code violations, analyzed employer policies and practices, and contributed to various strategies designed to protect employees’ rights.
