Michael Kirschbaum grew up in the working class community of Far Rockaway, Queens, New York. It was a culturally diverse, blue collar neighborhood of hard working men and women struggling to support their families. By working weekend and summer jobs, Mr. Kirschbaum was able to earn his way through college, taking the subway into Brooklyn for 4 years and graduating from Long Island University, Brooklyn campus, in 1972 with a Bachelor of Arts. degree. He later moved from the concrete jungle of the city to the, then, green pastures of Orange County to attend and graduate from Western State University, College of Law, in 1976, with a Juris Doctorate degree.

After volunteering his time for the non-profit Women’s Law Center of Southern California, Mr. Kirschbaum began his legal career as one of its staff attorneys and later, Legal Director, for an organization which advocated women’s rights, domestically, as a well as in the workplace. The young WLC attorneys were mentored by some of Orange County’s top attorneys, at the time, who generously volunteered their services to provide guidance on some of the most significant of women’s legal issues in the late 1970’s. It was the dawn of the employee rights era and Mr. Kirschbaum was in the trenches combating institutions resistant to the changing times.

Mr. Kirschbaum started his own law practice in 1980, in Santa Ana, where he maintained an office for 28 years. He relocated to Irvine in 2008, where he practices to this day. The focus of his practice centers on representing individuals in all forms of employment related issues, including wrongful termination, discrimination, unlawful harassment, retaliation, whistle- blowing, wage and hour disputes, privacy right violations, non-compete violations, trade secret disputes, among other issues. He practices in both state and federal court, in California, as well as before various administrative agencies. Mr. Kirschbaum has advised and/or represented hundreds of employees during his years of practice, whether in court, administrative hearings, private arbitration, mediation or just plain negotiation with employers and/or their attorneys to resolve disputes deemed to be in the best interests of his clients.

Mr. Kirschbaum is a former Chairperson of the Labor and Employment Section of the Orange County Bar Association, a long time active member of the California Employment Lawyers Association and the National Employment Lawyers Association. He has frequently been a speaker on seminar panels for the OCBA and Continuing Education of the Bar, as well as other groups on a variety of employment related matters. He also contributes articles on employment related subject to various periodicals and organizations. He is an avid runner and photographer. Among his pet projects, has been serving as a volunteer and Advisory Board member for Volunteers in Parole (now called VIP Mentors), which matches attorneys with juvenile and adult offenders to serve as big brothers and sisters, providing advice and direction they may never receive from family or friends. He and his wife Jacqui were also adopted by a homeless companion, named Belle (pictured on the home page), who was rescued from a shelter just in the nick of time. They advocate for the adoption of homeless companions who become the most loyal of friends.