Leigh Anne St. Charles

Leigh Anne St. Charles is the Nashville managing partner of Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight and the firmwide co-head of litigation. She also co-chairs the Discrimination and Harassment and Financial Mismanagement and ERISA Litigation practice groups. She represents individuals and classes in employment claims involving discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, as well as participants in employer-sponsored retirement plans pursuing claims of fiduciary misconduct.

Leigh Anne earned a J.D. from Columbia Law School and a B.A., cum laude, from Western Kentucky University. At Columbia, she received James Kent and Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar recognition and served as a notes editor for the Journal of Law and Social Problems. She also worked with organizations focused on civil rights and workers’ rights. Her academic and professional training underpins complex employment and financial litigation.

Leigh Anne has helped secure a $69 million settlement involving UnitedHealth Group’s 401(k) plan, an $8.3 million arbitration verdict for a technology company co-founder, and a settlement of more than $2 million for a former Nashville airport executive. She has also represented hundreds of workers in an age discrimination class case against Volkswagen and negotiated settlements for female executives and law firm partners alleging discrimination and unequal treatment.

Leigh Anne St. Charles has received Best Lawyers Ones to Watch, Mid-South Rising Stars, and other professional recognition for her litigation work. Before joining her current firm, she practiced complex commercial litigation at Arnold & Porter. She brings experience with individual executive disputes and nationwide class actions, helping employees and retirement plan participants seek accountability when employment practices or plan management are challenged.

Law Office Affiliations

• Managing Partner, Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, LLP
• Member, Tennessee Bar Association
• Member, District of Columbia Bar
• Board Member, American Constitution Society
• Board Member, Workers’ Rights Student Coalition

Licensed State

• Tennessee
• District of Columbia

Education

• Columbia Law School
  Juris Doctor (JD)
• Western Kentucky University
  Bachelor of Arts (BA) (Cum Laude)

Awards & Badges