About Warren Astbury

Harvard Law. 50+ trials. Plaintiff-side today.

Warren Astbury employment lawyer at Astbury Law, PLLC, focused on plaintiff-side Michigan cases. I worked on the defense side for years, representing Fortune 500 companies against the employees who sued them. Before that, I was a criminal prosecutor. Now I use the same playbook for employees.

Warren Astbury, Michigan plaintiff-side employment lawyer
The story

From prosecutor, to defense, to plaintiff-side.

My career in the courtroom started in criminal court. After Harvard Law School in 2009, I spent my early years as a prosecutor — taking dozens of cases to verdict, including more than 20 jury trials. That’s where I learned to actually try a case: how to pick a jury, cross a witness, put on a clean direct, and tell a story to twelve strangers in a way they’d remember.

From there I moved to one of the country’s largest corporate-side labor and employment firms, where I spent years defending Fortune 500 companies against discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination, and wage-and-hour claims. I learned the defense playbook cold.

Somewhere in those years, I realized something I didn’t expect: most of the employees suing those companies had real cases. Not all of them, but the ones with real evidence — documents, emails, witnesses, timing — were usually right.

So I left, and started over on the plaintiff side. I represent Michigan employees now — wrongful termination, FMLA retaliation, pregnancy and ADA discrimination, whistleblower claims, age and race discrimination, and non-compete defense — along with federal-court matters in Florida and California where I’m also admitted.

What I won’t do

I won’t take a case just because there’s a fee in it. If your situation doesn’t have the evidence to support a real claim, I’ll tell you so on the first call.

I won’t represent employers against their employees. I did that work for years at a defense firm, and I left it behind for reasons I’m happy to explain on a call.

I won’t promise outcomes. Anyone who does is either lying or new.

By the numbers

Credentials, in brief.

Education

Harvard

Harvard Law School, J.D. 2009.

Experience

15 yrs

In active practice since 2009.

Trials

50+

Cases tried to verdict — criminal, civil, jury, bench.

Side today

Employee

Plaintiff-side work exclusively.

State bars

MI · FL · CA

Michigan, Florida, and California.

Federal courts

6 districts

E.D. & W.D. Michigan; N.D., M.D. & S.D. Florida; C.D. California.

Practice areas

8

Non-compete, FMLA, pregnancy, ADA, race, gender, whistleblower, age.

Fees

Mixed

Contingency for retaliation, discrimination, and wage claims. Hourly or flat-fee for non-compete defense.

How I work

Three things you should expect from me, every case.

Straight answers, in writing.

If your case is strong, I’ll tell you why and put it in writing. If it’s weak, I’ll tell you why and put that in writing too.

Trial preparation from day one.

Every case I take, I prep as if it’s going to trial. This is why cases that settle, settle for more.

Plain English, always.

If a brief or deposition or email I send you contains a word you don’t understand, that’s a failure on my part.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
Warren Astbury employment lawyer — Astbury Law

Have a case you want to talk through?

Free, confidential 15-minute call. I’ll tell you what I think, in plain English, before you’ve spent a dollar.