Teresa McQueen is Corporate Counsel for Western Growers. In that capacity she provides advice and counsel to the organization on employment law matters and commercial trade practices. She also provides legal guidance to Western Growers members on employment law, human resources, and commercial agreements, as well as providing law-related educational opportunities and overseeing annual updates to the Western Growers Personnel Procedures Manual. Teresa is a skilled trial attorney, published author, certified business etiquette trainer, and an active member of the Orange County legal community.
Prior to joining Western Growers, Teresa founded and was principal attorney at SAFFIRE LEGAL, PC, an employment and risk management law firm, and before that was a named associate at the employment litigation firm of Pedersen ▪ McQueen. While at SAFFIRE LEGAL, Teresa applied the skills and strategies learned over ten plus years as an employment law litigator and general counsel attorney to providing employers and employees with legal advice, education, and training on developing and maintaining successful employee/employer relationships.
Teresa is a recipient of the Orange County Bar Association’s Harmon G. Scoville Award for exemplifying the highest standards of the legal profession and championing our constitutional system of justice. In addition, she has been chosen multiple times as a Southern California “Super Lawyer,” named as a Super Lawyers Top Women Attorneys in Southern California, and a Super Lawyers Rising Star. Teresa is a recognized leader in the Orange County legal community, serving as a member of the Board of Directors for the Orange County Bar Association (OCBA) and in numerous volunteer leadership roles for the OCBA and California State Bar. Most recently Teresa co-chairs the OCBA’s Education and Membership Committees. Teresa also serves the legal community teaching employment law as an adjunct professor at Western State College of Law at Westcliff University.
Teresa earned a Juris Doctorate from Chapman University School of Law in 2002 and her undergraduate degree from the University of Idaho.
