Carmen is a co-founder and the Managing Partner of Plaza de Jennings and Chipman LLP. She has over 35 years of respected client contact and representation experience in the area of labor and employment law, with an emphasis on the representation of public sector employers, including cities, counties, institutions of higher education and special districts. Carmen also has experience representing private educational institutions and independent schools.

Carmen has spent her entire career as a labor and employment lawyer, representing both public and private employers. She is known for her meticulous, successful and collegial approach to even the most difficult and contentious legal issues and labor relations. As a “go-to” attorney for public and private sector clients seeking thoughtful and forward-thinking representation, Carmen has been able to forge lasting, trusting and fulfilling relationships with clients. While in law school Carmen interned at the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, the California state agency modeled after the National Labor Relations Board, that oversees labor matters for agricultural employees. Carmen credits her work at the ALRB with sparking her interest in labor and employment law. From 1978 to 1990, she worked as an attorney for the NLRB; from 1985 to 1990 she was a Supervisory Attorney in its San Francisco Regional Office where she handled complex trials and supervised all aspects of Board work, including the investigation and prosecution of unfair labor practice cases and representation matters. In January 2019, after 22 years as an equity partner in a nationally recognized San Francisco boutique employment law firm, Carmen along with Jayne Chipman founded Plaza de Jennings and Chipman LLP. Carmen’s current practice involves all areas of labor and employment law, including advice and counseling, litigation, labor arbitration, workplace investigations and training. She has extensive litigation, arbitration and administrative hearing experience having handled matters in state and federal court and before the PERB, NLRB, EEOC and CRD. Carmen provides ongoing advice to clients regarding labor and employment matters, including employee discipline and performance issues, sexual harassment, disabled employee accommodation, wage and hour issues and labor disputes. She also advises higher education institutions on instructional program issues and such matters as the hiring, retention, discipline and dismissal of faculty and staff, and on matters of student discipline and student rights. Throughout her professional career, Carmen has conducted or overseen over 100 investigations for private and public employers, as well as provided workplace investigations training.
In the community, Carmen has been actively involved with La Raza Centro Legal, a non-profit organization in San Francisco that provides legal services to the Bay Area’s Hispanic population. In 2015, La Raza Centro Legal honored her with the Community Advocate for Justice Award. Carmen has also served as a past officer and board member of the San Francisco La Raza Lawyers Association.

Carmen is also involved in Princeton alumni activities. Both her son and her daughter are also alumni. She formally chaired the San Francisco Bay Area Region of the Princeton Prize in Race Relations, which recognizes high school students committed to fostering positive race relations within their schools or communities and continues to be involved as a committee member. She has also been involved in Princeton’s Schools Committee, Princeton’s Annual Giving Campaign and the Association of Latino Princeton Alumni. Most recently, Carmen served on the Board of Directors of Princeton AlumniCorps a non-profit organization committed to fostering civic engagement, and is currently a Board Member of the San José-Evergreen Community College District Foundation.