Practice/Organization Description
Oppenheimer Investigations Group is a premier investigations law firm that specializes in impartial workplace and school investigations as well as trainings, executive coaching, expert testimony, and mediation services. As impartial attorney investigators, we are committed to providing conscientious and expert investigative services to uncover the causes of conflict and help our clients create and maintain safe, equitable, and harassment-free spaces for their staff and students.
Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Oppenheimer Investigations Group investigates complaints of harassment, discrimination, retaliation, sexual assault, and other misconduct for public entities, private companies, big and small, and educational institutions throughout California. When faced with crises, clients seek our services because of our reputation as experts in the field, our ability to dissect and discern complex issues fairly, and our cost-effective and high-quality work.
Oppenheimer Investigations Group LLP launched in 2021, a new partnership growing out of the Law Offices of Amy Oppenheimer, which opened 25 years ago. Partners Amy Oppenheimer, Vida Thomas, Christina (Tina) Ro-Connolly, Zaneta Seidel, and Alezah Trigueros, joined by all the attorneys and staff at the Law Offices of Amy Oppenheimer, came together to lead the new firm with an eye toward the future of this growing industry.
Alezah is the firm’s longest serving investigator aside from Amy. She joined the firm in 2014, after graduating from law school. Alezah initially came onboard in a support role, but she discovered that she loved the work, and she excelled at it. She began conducting her own investigations in 2015 and has since developed a deep expertise in Title IX work, becoming one of the firm’s leading Title IX investigators.
Zaneta joined the firm in 2017, after attending a program that Amy presented about managing unconscious bias. She was working in litigation but was looking for a less adversarial career path. Intrigued by the opportunity to put her natural conflict resolution skills to work, Zaneta approached Amy after the program to learn more about investigations and ask how she could help.
A year later, in 2018, Tina joined the firm as an attorney investigator. She brought with her years of experience in labor and employment law. Tina was fascinated by workplace culture and dynamics, but she was looking for a change, preferring to be in a position to address workplace conflict at the outset, rather than litigating after the fact.
By 2018, the need for full- time administrative support had become clear, and Cody Holtz also joined the firm as its first office manager. Cody was an asset to the firm because of his background in legal administration, in both the public and private sector.
Vida joined the firm as a partner in 2020. She was the missing piece that brought the partnership together and would help it move to a new phase of its life. A proven leader, Vida had an extensive background in employment law and previously operated her own firm.
After years of steady growth, the firm had a stellar and very busy 2020, which saw their caseload increase exponentially. This necessitated the firm’s hiring of both a writing/editing staff and more administrative staff to manage the growing practice and keep investigations moving. Oppenheimer Investigations Group built on this momentous 2020.
The firm’s history began with Amy Oppenheimer, whose extensive experience in employment law started in the 1980s. She first focused on representing plaintiffs in employment discrimination suits, especially sexual harassment, before pivoting toward mediation and prevention of harassment. In the 1990s, she investigated Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) complaints before beginning a two-decade career as an Administrative Law Judge.
By 2011, Amy had transitioned from her role as an Administrative Law Judge and started focusing exclusively on the Law Offices of Amy Oppenheimer, offering workplace investigation services, training on harassment, diversity, and bias, as well as teaching HR professionals how to perform investigations.
