Overview

Angel L. Garrett focuses her practice on employee benefits and Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) litigation. She counsels a wide range of clients, from Fortune 500 companies to small family-owned companies to non-profit organizations, on a variety of employee benefits and ERISA matters and handles class action and single-plaintiff cases involving fiduciary issues, management and recordkeeping fees, employee stock valuation, actuarial valuations, investment of plan assets, and benefit claims. Her extensive experience includes representing plan fiduciaries and employers in litigation involving all types of retirement plans, including 401(k) and 403(b) plans, multiemployer plans, church and governmental plans, employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), executive compensation plans, and health and welfare plans. Angel manages cases through all phases of litigation in federal and state courts, as well as in front of administrative agencies and arbitrations.

In addition to her litigation practice, Angel advises clients on compliance issues related to fiduciary responsibility, prohibited transactions, qualified domestic relations orders, and benefit claims. She also represents clients in investigations by the Department of Labor, and helps prepare and implement policies to correct violations and draft and negotiate settlements.

Angel is a prolific speaker on employee benefit issues, regularly speaking on panels for the ABA Tax Section and at the annual ABA ERISA Basics National Institute.

Professional & Community Affiliations

Board of Directors

Justice and Diversity Center of the Bar Association of San Francisco

Board of Directors

Queen’s Bench Bar Association of the San Francisco Bay Area

Vice President

Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area

Fellow

Leadership Advancement Program

National Asian Pacific American Bar Association

Chair

Tort, Trial, and Insurance Practice Section (TIPS) - Employee Benefits Committee

American Bar Association

Co-Chair

Tax Section - Employee Benefits Litigation Committee

American Bar Association

Recognition

Named, The Best Lawyers in America®

ERISA Litigation

2025

Named, Super Lawyer

Northern California

Super Lawyers

2019-present

Recipient, Minority Bar Coalition Unity Award

2021

Regents' and Chancellor's Scholar

University of California, Berkeley

2003

News, Analysis & Press

Education

  • J.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign College of Law, 2006cum laude
  • B.A./B.S., University of California, Berkeley, 2003

Bar Admission

California

Courts

  • U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
  • U.S. District Court, Central District of California
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of California