Robert M. Coelho

Assistant County Counsel

Rob Coelho oversees the Office’s Labor and Employment team, Equal Opportunity and Employment Investigations team, Equal Opportunity Division, and professional responsibility ethics guidance.  A trusted employment-law advisor and litigator for more than twenty-five years, Rob also advises the Board of Supervisors, County Executive’s Office, Employee Services Agency, and other County departments regarding legal issues relating to employee hiring, discipline, and terminations; labor contracting; human resources; and labor/employment law compliance.

Rob’s professional expertise includes:

• Labor contracting and Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (MMBA) compliance
• Labor/employment laws, including equal opportunity and anti-discrimination laws
• Employee discipline and discharge hearings/arbitration/litigation
• Reasonable accommodation compliance
• Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights Act (POBRA)
• Legal ethics
• California Public Records Act (CPRA)

Education

• University of California, Hastings College of the Law, J.D., 1992
• University of California, Berkeley, B.A., 1989

Professional Associations

• Santa Clara County Bar Association
  • Labor & Employment Law Section, Executive Committee (2008-2017)
  • Law-Related Education Committee (1998-Present)
  • Civil Practice Committee (2013-Present)
  • Professionalism Committee (2013-Present)
  • Judiciary Committee (2005-2012; Co-Chair 2011-2012)

Prior Experience

• Shareholder at Hoge, Fenton, Jones & Appel, Inc. (1998-2008)
  • Chair of the Employment Law Practice Group
  • Chair of the Associate-Review Committee
• Associate Attorney at Law Offices of J. Michael Bewley (2003-2008)