About Michaela R.
Michaela R. Goldstein studied international and global affairs before turning to the law. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in International/Global Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2014 and completed her Juris Doctor at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles in 2017. Those years shaped an approach that balances classroom theory with practical workplace issues.
Her legal career began immediately after law school. In 2017 she joined Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP as an employment law associate. She worked on a range of employer-side matters, gaining experience in counseling and litigation in state and federal courts. The work at Sheppard Mullin gave her early exposure to complex employment disputes and internal investigations.
In 2022 Goldstein moved to Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, where she continued as an employment law associate. The transition marked a period of steady professional development. Her practice has involved advising employers on compliance, discipline and risk management. She also appears in federal courts; she is admitted to practice in California and before the U.S. District Courts for the Southern, Eastern, Central and Northern Districts of California, as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
That same year she took on a role outside the firm walls. Goldstein served as an adjunct professor of employment law at The Santa Barbara & Ventura Colleges of Law. In the classroom she translated statutes and precedent into practical lessons for students preparing to enter practice. Teaching offered a different vantage point on familiar issues and a chance to refine how complex legal concepts are communicated.
Colleagues describe her approach as methodical. She breaks problems into discrete issues and addresses them one at a time. That style fits the work she has done: drafting policies, advising on workplace investigations and defending employers in employment litigation. Her courtroom admissions across multiple federal districts and the Ninth Circuit reflect a practice that spans both trial and appellate matters.
Goldstein has maintained active membership in professional circles since entering practice in 2017. She continues to develop her practice at Morgan Lewis, where she handles employment-law matters for corporate clients and institutions. She handles employment-law matters at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP.
