Roberta Yang

Roberta M. Yang has an active workplace investigations practice in Los Angeles and Orange County, California, and consults with senior management (CEO, President, COO, General Counsel, Executive Director, and HR) of privately held companies, large public agencies, and non-profit organizations who are faced with a myriad of day-to-day and long-term challenges in their businesses and missions. A significant part of her practice includes workplace investigations of alleged equity violations (e.g., discrimination, harassment, and bullying), conflicts of interest, financial fraud, and mediation of workplace conflicts. Professor Yang is a Certificate Holder with the Association of Workplace Investigators, Inc. (AWI-CH) and a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) awarded by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE).

Professor Yang has a unique professional background, having herself been a member of the C-Suite and other senior executive positions in both the public and private sectors. Most recently, she served as General Counsel of a $300M+ consortium of global logistics companies where she advised the principals on strategies from legal, human resources, and bottom line perspectives. Professor Yang previously served as Los Angeles Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Homeland Security on and during 9/11, representing the City’s interests in emergency preparedness and homeland security policies at the state and national levels. As Deputy Mayor, she was charged with oversight of Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles Fire Department, Emergency Preparedness Department, and Personnel Department, including management of the City’s federal consent decree litigation involving LAPD and related investigations.

Prior to serving as Deputy Mayor, Professor Yang worked as the Deputy Chief Trial Counsel for the State Bar of California, managing the day to day operations of the prosecutors and investigators assigned to attorney misconduct cases in which violations of ethics and professional responsibility standards were charged. She also worked at Heller, Ehrman, White & McAuliffe on complex litigation matters involving accountant liability, commercial litigation, and environmental issues, including the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Professor Yang has substantial trial experience as Special Attorney, Los Angeles Organized Crime Strike Force, U.S. Department of Justice, and served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney [Criminal Division] in Houston, Texas prior to moving to Los Angeles. She is a graduate of Rice University and University of Houston Law Center. She speaks fluent Italian. Professor Yang serves on the international AWI Board of Directors 2022-27 and was a co-chair of its Diversity & Inclusion Committee. She served on the international ACFE Job Analysis Task Force in 2024 to assist in updating the CFE examination. She is a past president of the Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association, the largest single Asian ethnic bar association in the U.S. Professor Yang is currently an adjunct law professor at Southwestern Law School, Los Angeles, and will be co-teaching Fundamentals of Workplace Investigations in Spring 2027.