Ms. Contreras is a senior attorney with Emerzian Shankar Legal Inc.  Ms. Contreras is a skilled, experienced investigator, routinely conducting workplace and school investigations for complaints of harassment, discrimination, retaliation, Title VII and Title IX, bullying, fraud, and misappropriation of funds.  

For the firm’s education sector clients, Ms. Contreras is also skilled at advising on a wide variety of areas of education law compliance, including colleges, universities, and K-12 school districts.  She assists such clients with student conduct and special education/accommodations to students with disabilities, HR law compliance.  In the K-12 arena, she has extensive experience appearing at Individualized Education Program and Section 504 meetings, advising on offers of FAPE, and responding to due process complaints before the office of administrative hearings.

For the firm’s private and non-profit sector clients, Ms. Contreras provides transactional and advisory services on HR law compliance, business entity formations, non-profit governance, contract drafting, trademarks, and pre-litigation disputes.  She particularly enjoys representing family-owned businesses and non-profit corporations. 

For the firm’s municipal clients, Ms. Contreras also provides city-sponsored eviction defense services, including direct representation of tenants in court.

Ms. Contreras is certified as an HR professional by the Society of Human Resources Management.

Ms. Contreras earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Child Development from Fresno State, earning Dean’s List recognition twice.  She also completed a Victim Services Certificate program while in college.  Ms. Contreras subsequently earned her law degree from San Joaquin College of Law where she was honored with the Witkin Award for academic excellence in the area of Contracts.

During law school, Ms. Contreras clerked for two Fresno-area law firms, including an education law firm where she prepared training materials for educational institutions and worked in the area of special education.  She also served as a judicial extern for the US District Court, Eastern District of California.

Once admitted to practice, Ms. Contreras began working for another education law firm where she represented California education institutions in the areas of student law and conduct, special education compliance, and labor and employment law.

Ms. Contreras grew up in the central valley. Ms. Contreras volunteers for the Buchanan Wrestling Boosters and Family Fun and Fitness Expo.