Esperanza Lyons represents employers and business owners in employment and business matters, advising them on day-to-day workplace decisions and defending them when disputes arise. As an attorney at Hackler Flynn & Associates, she works with employers, business owners, and human resources professionals to manage risk and find practical business solutions. She came to the firm from Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP, where she was an Office Partner defending employers in complex employment litigation, including class actions and PAGA representative actions. She is also a U.S. Army veteran who began her legal career in a military Judge Advocate General's office. Her practice is about 50 percent employment litigation, 40 percent advice and counsel, and 10 percent business disputes. Because she knows from her litigation work how employment decisions are scrutinized when they're challenged, she gives advice built to hold up later.
Practice Focus
Esperanza represents employers exclusively, in three areas:
Advice and Counsel
- Employee discipline, termination, and personnel management
- Wage and hour compliance
- Leave and accommodation issues
- Workplace investigations
- Employee handbooks, policies, and employment agreements
Litigation Defense
- Discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and wrongful termination claims
- FMLA and CFRA leave, accommodation, and disability claims
- Wage and hour class actions and PAGA representative actions
- Employment-related tort claims
- Matters in California state court, federal district court, arbitration, and mediation, and before administrative agencies
Business Disputes
- Commercial and business disputes, handled with cost-effective strategies aligned with the client's long-term objectives
Experience
Esperanza served in the U.S. Army from 2004 to 2008. Stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas, she worked in the Post Judge Advocate General (JAG) Office, where she assisted with court-martial proceedings and Article 32 investigations, prepared witnesses, conducted legal research, and was selected and trained as a victim advocate.
After law school, she was admitted to the State Bar of California in December 2016. She began her legal career at Gubler & Abbott in Visalia, California (2016–2019), first as a law clerk and then as an associate. She then practiced as an associate at Freund, Freeze & Arnold, LPA in Columbus, Ohio (2019–2022). She joined Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP in February 2023 as Senior Counsel and became an Office Partner in January 2024, defending employers in complex employment litigation, including class and representative actions. She joined Hackler Flynn & Associates in 2026.
Outside the Office
When she is not advising clients, Esperanza enjoys spending time with her family, reading, traveling, sewing, and working on craft projects.
At a Glance
Education
- J.D., cum laude, The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, 2016;
- M.A., Academic Research in Social Psychology, with Distinction, Humboldt State University, 2013;
- B.A., Psychology, Humboldt State University, 2011 (Presidential Scholar)
Admissions
- State Bar of California, December 2016
- State Bar of Arizona, August 2018
- Supreme Court of Ohio, November 2018
- U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, and Central Districts of California
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio
Military Service
- U.S. Army, 2004–2008
Practice Areas
- Employment Law
- Wage and Hour and PAGA Defense
- Employment Litigation Defense
- Business Disputes
Languages
- Spanish (native)