top of page

shounak S. dharap

Associate Attorney

Shounak represents workers, consumers, and other injured people through complex litigation in federal and state court, as well as in arbitration. His practice areas include labor and employment (including gig-economy independent contractor misclassification), consumer fraud, elder abuse, sexual abuse, and mass torts (including the Northern California Wildfires). He was selected as a Super Lawyers Rising Star for 2019, 2020, and 2021.

He is also an adjunct professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law, where he teaches a course titled Litigating Workers' Rights in the Gig Economy--a course that provides students with hands-on, simulated legal practice in the area of employment law. 


When he is not advocating for clients or teaching students, he serves as one of five elected members, and the current President, of the Palo Alto Unified School District Board of Education, ranked the #1 unified school district in California. 

Prior to joining the Arns Law Firm, Shounak worked as a judicial extern for the Honorable Kathleen M. Banke, of the California Court of Appeal and the United States Attorney’s Office.

Memberships: Consumer Attorneys of California, San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association, American Association for Justice, Santa Clara County Bar Association

Practice Areas

Consumer Law

Personal Injury

Wage & Hour

Managerial Misclassification

Independent Contractor Misclassification

Unfair Business Practices

Skilled Nursing / Assisted Living Facility Abuse

Sexual Abuse

Education

University of San Francisco School of Law (2016)

Juris Doctor, cum laude
 

University of California, Santa Cruz (2012)

B.A. in English Literature 

Highlights

Settlements

$4,600,000 settlement on behalf of Instacart shoppers for claims of independent contractor misclassification (2018)

$3,150,000 settlement in wage and hour action on behalf of nursing home employees (2020) 

 

$1,000,000 settlement on behalf of managers

of a fast food restaurant chain bringing claims of managerial misclassification (2019)

$440,000 settlement on behalf of seafood processors who contended they were forcibly quarantined in hotel rooms without pay (2020)

 

Ongoing Cases

Keller v. Amazon

Hearl v. Shipt

Decker v. Postmates

Jordan v. Instacart

Torres v. North Pacific Seafoods, Inc.

Gregg v. St. Joseph Health

Horne v. CSAA

Grassi v. Fire Insurance Co.

Romero v. Agro Research International LLC

Northern California Fire Cases

bottom of page