PARTNER
Andrew Hillier
Andrew Hillier
Areas of expertise
- Employment Law
- Class Action
San Diego, CA
(619) 330-5120
Andrew Hillier is a partner at Harlan Hillier DiGiacco who represents California workers in employment cases, including wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, and wage and hour matters. He has spent more than a decade exclusively representing employees against the companies that harm them. Andrew is a regular speaker and contributor to the CASD’s Trial Bar News in the field of employment law.
Selected Result
In 2025-26, Andrew served as lead counsel in the matter of Sturges v. Chula Vista Elementary School District. Dr. Sturges’s Complaint read like a nightmare: Dr. Sturges had been a successful and beloved elementary school principal, but her career was derailed when the District demoted her when she needed to take a medical leave of absence to undergo surgery.
The District employed a number of retaliatory tactics against her, including sending a private investigator to sit outside her home and follow her (and her children) everywhere they went.
As soon as Harlan Hillier DiGiacco was retained, we took action. We immediately helped Dr. Sturges develop strategies to neutralize the District’s intimidation tactics. We then filed a comprehensive Complaint detailing the District’s conduct.
In litigation, we applied immediate pressure, forcing the District to hand over damning evidence and filing motions with the Court to compel the District to divulge any documents unlawfully withheld. We also deposed a high-ranking member of the District’s Human Resources team about Dr. Sturges’s case, garnering important admissions of culpability.
Pressure pays off. Within 10 months of the filing of the lawsuit, the District agreed to settle Dr. Sturges’s case for $3,300,000.00. As far as we can tell, it is one of the highest settlements for a school administrator in a case of this kind in the State of California.
The number is a testament to the significant harm done to Dr. Sturges and our ability to prosecute the case to its full potential. We are grateful to have had the opportunity to right some of this wrong and restore Dr. Sturges’s good name.
About Andrew
Andrew Hillier represents California workers in employment cases. For more than a decade, he has dedicated his professional life to protecting the rights of employees. On the front lines of litigation, Andrew has seen first-hand how employers may try to take advantage of their workers – prioritizing profits over the people who create them. But he has also seen that the efforts of a single, brave individual can put a stop to an employer’s illegal practices. Andrew founded Harlan Hillier DiGiacco LLP to assist as many of those people as he can.
While Andrew recognizes that the prospect of a lawsuit can be intimidating, he understands how to guide clients through the process. His style is collaborative. Andrew knows that no two employment cases are alike and no two clients want the same thing from a case. Some want a result they can live with quickly; others want to set a precedent that protects the next person. Andrew works with each client to understand the best approach, then prepares the strategy to match.
Andrew’s zealous advocacy and dedication to his clients have been recognized by Expertise and the San Diego Daily Transcript. He has repeatedly been named a Super Lawyers’ “Rising Star” for his work in employment law. In 2024, he was awarded the Outstanding Trial Lawyer of the Year by the leading advocacy group Consumer Attorneys of San Diego.
Beyond his client work, Andrew is a frequent speaker and former adjunct professor at the University of San Diego School of Law, where he taught classes on trial advocacy for nine years.
Notable Cases
Employment Law
- $14,850,000 – Multi-plaintiff confidential settlement in a retaliation and discrimination action [Andrew was co-counsel for litigation and settlement strategy]
- $9,372,000 — Buron v. Concentra Health Services, Inc., et al. [Andrew was co-lead trial attorney, helping to secure the landmark verdict]
- $3,300,00 – Sturges v. Chula Vista Elementary School District [Andrew was lead counsel for litigation and settlement strategy]
- $1,850,000 — Gallegos, et al. v. Children’s Institute, Inc. [Andrew was co-lead counsel for class action litigation and settlement ]
Trial Advocacy & Leadership
- Adjunct Professor, Mock Trial, University of San Diego School of Law 2014-2023
Honors & Recognition
- Super Lawyers Rising Stars, 2021-2024
- Consumer Attorneys of San Diego Outstanding Trial Lawyer Award, 2024
- California Top 10 Labor & Employment Jury Verdict, 2023
- Recognized by Expertise.com
- Recognized by The San Diego Daily Transcript
Education
J.D., University of San Diego School of Law, 2013
B.A., California Polytechnic University, 2009
Bar Admissions
- California
- U.S. District Court, Southern District of California
- U.S. District Court, Central District of California
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
Contact
Phone: (619) 330-5120
Office: 701 Island Avenue, 2nd Floor, San Diego, CA 92101
Schedule a free consultation: hhdlaw.com/contact
Honors & Rewards
Andrew Hillier
Areas of expertise
- Employment Law
- Class Action
San Diego, CA
(619) 330-5120
Client Experience
“There is a reason everyone rates this firm 5 stars. For any prospective clients, I could not rate the effectiveness, expertise, and engagement of this firm any higher. I had a highly complex situation that I brought to Andrew and Frankie, and from day one, I felt comfortable with them managing my case. For anyone who has not had to retain counsel in San Diego before, most firms take forever to do anything, and getting responses from an initial consult to updates is like pulling teeth. Not the case with Harlan Hillier DiGiacco. They have a great team, they are highly respected by industry peers and opposing counsel, and they kept me updated and explained everything step by step. Of all the firms I interviewed, they were the only ones that came back with a strategy, got to work immediately, and most importantly, got results! *Bonus: everyone here is super friendly. You are in good hands with them.”
– Latrell Crenshaw | Client