Joanna E. MacMillan

Joanna represents employers in a broad range of employment litigation matters, with a particular focus on complex wage and hour class, collective, and Private Attorney General Act (PAGA) actions filed in both state and federal courts. As an experienced litigator, Joanna has helped both large and small companies obtain highly favorable results in litigating actions of this variety, including instances where the lawsuit posed several issues of first impression.

In addition to class, collective, and representative actions, Joanna regularly represents employers in single-plaintiff and multi-plaintiff lawsuits that include claims of discrimination, retaliation, harassment, and other claims arising from the employer-employee relationship. She is skilled in all facets of discovery and fact gathering, legal research, law and motion practice, and courtroom advocacy.

As well as in her litigation practice, Joanna uses her international background to provide advice and counsel to employers on a variety of legal issues to prevent potential lawsuits from occurring in the first place. Joanna speaks fluent Spanish, as she was born and raised in South America, and she regularly utilizes her language skills in practice.

Before law school, Joanna worked as an analyst for a leading oilfield services provider, and she now incorporates that business experience into her legal practice to understand the precise nature of each individual client’s industry to better serve their needs. Joanna enjoys being in the trenches with her clients, and has been known to wear a suit with steel-toed cowboy boots while defending employers from government investigations and audits at dairies, farms, and manufacturing facilities.

Prior to joining Constangy, Joanna worked for law firms such as Littler Mendelson and Baker McKenzie.

• Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America^® "Ones to Watch" for Litigation - Labor and Employment (2021-2024)
• Southern California Rising Stars honoree (2021-2022)

• Century City Bar Association
  • President (2023-present)

Joanna was born in Peru and lived as an expatriate in countries such as Chile, Indonesia, and Singapore during her childhood. She attended high school in Jakarta, Indonesia, and graduated from Jakarta International School before moving to the United States to attend university. Joanna currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Duncan, and a Labrador-mix rescue named Pumpkin.

• “Farm Laborer Contractor Defends Agricultural Overtime,” Farm Labor Service News, May 2013
• “Reformasi and Public Corruption: Why Indonesia’s Anti-Corruption Strategy Must be Reformed to Effectively Combat Public Corruption,” 25 Emory International Law Review 587, 2011 (Cited in the Wall Street Journal January 19, 2012)