Contact Steven Holguin

(213) 395-0956
[email protected]
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About Steven Holguin

Steven R. Holguin was raised in the City Terrace community of East Los Angeles and comes from a multigenerational union family.

Steve’s father was a member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), Local 208; his mother was a member of the United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) his paternal grandfather and uncles were members of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), Local 1277; and his maternal grandparents were members of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union (HERE), Local 11- now UNITE HERE Local 11.

From a young age, Steve understood the vital importance and pride associated with union membership. As a high school student, and later as an assembly worker building electronic parts, Steve also became active in the civil rights movement.

In the late 1970s, as a community organizer, Steve worked closely with a group of young Los Angeles Latinos who went on to become union attorneys, influential union leaders, and leading California elected officials.

After law school, Steve worked under the “Dean of Labor Lawyers in Los Angeles,” ultimately becoming a partner at that firm. Steve went on to establish Holguin & Garfield APLC, a Los Angeles-based union-side labor and employment law firm where he served as Founding Partner for over three decades. Steve then founded SR Holguin, PC, a Los Angeles-based union-side labor and employment law firm where he serves as the firm’s President.

Through his nearly four decades of experience representing private sector unions, public sector unions, and multi-employer trust funds, Steve has lived by his motto, “equality for all workers is our goal – every day.”

Aggressive Litigator

An experienced and determined litigator, Steve combines his sharp analytical skills with uncanny abilities to read juries and create winning strategies. He has handled cases involving:

  • The Labor-Management Relations Act (LMRA or Taft-Hartley Act)
  • The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)
  • Federal and state discrimination cases based on race, religion, sex, age, and disability
  • Wage and Hour laws
  • Claims of wrongful termination
  • Claims of sexual harassment


Steve also has experience representing clients under the:

  • Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)
  • Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA)
  • Sherman Antitrust Act
  • Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO)
  • Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA)
  • California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)

Success on the Docks

Steve is especially proud of the integral role he has played in the strengthening of labor relations between the Southern California ILWU Locals and their employers. With Steve’s guidance, these ILWU Locals have successfully fought back attempts by their employers to weaken these Locals.

  • When the employers launched a public relations and governmental outreach campaign of misinformation against the dockworkers, Steve led a team that set the record straight, eventually derailing the employers’ attempts to break the union.
  • During a lockout, the United States Attorney General attempted to force the union to capitulate to management’s demands and go back to work. Steve worked with officials to convince the courts and the public that the union’s cause was just, and the employers should be held responsible for the lockout.
  • Steve successfully defended the fairness of the lottery system of the union to award 2,000 jobs to 500,000 applicants. Workers who were not chosen challenged the lottery as corrupt and discriminatory based on race, age and favoritism. Despite numerous cases filed in state and federal courts, Steve cleared the union and the lottery of all charges.

Experience on Administrative Agencies and Courts


  • Supreme Court of California
  • Appellate Courts throughout California
  • Superior Courts throughout California
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • United States District Courts throughout California and Nevada
  • National Labor Relations Board
  • United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
  • United States Department of Labor
  • United States Department of Justice
  • California Department of Fair Employment and Housing
  • California Department of Industrial Relations
  • California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board

Education, Honors, and Professional Associations

Professional Associations and Honors:

  • Southern California Super Lawyers (2012-Present)
  • AFL-CIO Union Lawyers Alliance Member, and Former Member of the Board of Directors
  • California Lawyers Association, Labor and Employment Law Section Member
  • Mexican American Bar Association Member
  • International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Local 13 Honorary Member
  • Los Angeles College Faculty Guild, American Federation of Teachers, Local 1521 Member

Community Involvement:

  • Los Angeles Trade Technical College Labor Center Adjunct Professor (1990-Present)
  • Miguel Contreras Foundation Board of Directors (2014-2017)
  • Former Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Pro Tem

Education:

  • University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law, Juris Doctor with an emphasis in Labor and Employment Law, 1983
  • California State University, Long Beach, Bachelor of Arts, 1979
  • East Los Angeles College