Andje Medina co-founded Altair Law to fight for the underdog, take challenging cases, make a difference in the lives of her clients, and advance the legal community.
As a personal injury trial attorney, Andje uses her skills, boundless energy, unwavering strength, and positivity to represent clients and their families who have suffered catastrophic injuries and losses. She emphasizes the individuality and uniqueness of every client’s life and story, which results in life-changing verdicts and settlements for her clients. Driven by her passion for helping people and giving the voiceless a voice, Andje takes pride in the positive impact she has on her clients’ lives.
Co-founded Firm to Guide Clients Through Litigation
Andje and her partners built Altair Law as a firm of trial attorneys that litigate cases from start to finish. Andje, as well as each of Altair’s attorneys, has been trial-tested and industry-recognized for achieving outstanding results in court.
The name of the firm reflects its mission – Guidance You Can Trust. Altair, the brightest star in the constellation Aquila and one of the brightest stars in the night sky, has historically been used for navigation. Similarly, Altair Law guides clients through traumatic events and helps them navigate the complex and adversarial legal system. Altair Law is a boutique firm focused on the client experience, and its clients receive full access to a committed team, ensuring personalized attention and dedicated service.
Andje handles various practice areas, often involving significant personal tragedies. Her clients include victims of sexual abuse, catastrophically injured individuals, and family members left behind after a wrongful death. Her success lies in her storytelling abilities. To tell a compelling story, Andje takes the time to deeply understand her clients, often forming lifelong relationships.
Andje views each case as an opportunity to help her clients and benefit the community. Whether by taking unsafe products off the market or pushing companies to implement better safety training, the firm aims to create a positive ripple effect on society. Andje is unafraid to take challenging cases to trial or to demand justice for her clients when defendants refuse to accept responsibility or undervalue the harm they have caused.
In addition to representing her clients from case inception to trial, Andje is often sought by her peers to serve as lead trial counsel. She considers it a great honor that colleagues entrust her to carry their clients’ torches through trial.
Recognized for Her Compassionate Representation
For over a decade, Andje has been consistently recognized for her dedication to her clients and the community. Her impressive track record of outstanding client results has earned her numerous peer and client nomination-based awards.
In 2012, she achieved the highest settlement in the history of the San Francisco Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service, propelling her onto prestigious lists such as Best Lawyers. Since then, Super Lawyers has recognized her every year. In 2017, the Daily Journal named Andje one of California’s Top 40 Under 40 Attorneys.
In 2018, Andje secured a verdict twenty-five times the last defense offer. The San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association awarded her and her trial team the 2019 Trial Lawyer of the Year for this achievement. She was previously nominated for this honor following an exceptional verdict in a challenging premises liability case the year prior.
The Daily Journal listed her among the Top 30 Plaintiffs Lawyers in 2018. In 2022, Best Lawyers in America named her Lawyer of the Year for Plaintiffs’ Product Liability Litigation in San Francisco.
While Andje appreciates these honors, her client testimonials truly affirm her dedication and impact, reflecting the real-life differences she has made in their lives. Her clients have recognized her for her zealous representation, compassionate approach, and unwavering commitment to achieving justice.
Dedicated to Leadership and Mentorship in the Legal Community
Outside the courtroom, Andje remains active in the legal community, serving in various leadership roles in state and local professional organizations that champion fair and equal access to justice. She serves on the Board of Governors at large for the California Consumer Attorneys Association and the Board of Directors for the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association. She is a frequent author and lecturer throughout California.
Andje leads with civility, character, and integrity. She understands this career can be daunting and antagonistic; however, she counters that by regularly mentoring attorneys and law students.
Andje epitomizes the saying that “a rising tide lifts all boats.” Not only has her mentorship guided attorneys and law students to reach their potential, but Andje’s mentorship relationships often result in her own professional and business growth, from learning trial strategies from peers to receiving case referrals from former law students. By investing in others, Andje demonstrates that you can also successfully invest in yourself.
Sustaining Excellence in Legal Representation
Since its inception, Altair Law has consistently received outstanding results for its clients due to Andje and her partners’ dedication to their clients and employees. The firm prides itself on being approachable, solving real problems for real people, and growing to meet its clients’ needs.
Andje shares that Altair Law’s growth has been both organic and systematic. To deliver the best client experience, Altair Law carefully selects and fosters the most talented team members, including those in non-lawyer positions. For instance, the recent hiring of a Chief Operating Officer, an uncommon role in a plaintiff-focused personal injury firm, has allowed the partners to concentrate on what they do best—trial practice.
Thinking outside the box and testing the limits of traditional law firm practices are two reasons Altair Law is consistently seen as an industry leader in the community. Andje’s goal is for Altair Law to continue its organic and thoughtful growth while maintaining its reputation for providing the highest quality legal representation.
Strength in Diversity
On opportunities for women to grow and lead in the industry, Andje finds that there is strength in diversity: diversity of experience, diversity of perspective, and diversity in representation. She has observed that the strongest legal teams often include women in strategy roles. And she believes women are natural storytellers, inherently empathetic, and keenly organized.
Andje notes that clients, courts, organizations, and other attorneys expect women in leadership. She sees this as indicative of a radical transformation in the legal profession and litigation. Andje knows that when women can reach their potential, Altair Law’s clients and the community will be better served. Andje leads by example, seeks talented employees, and champions her peers.
Embracing Hybrid Work Culture
According to Andje, in this post-COVID era, employers must embrace the workforce shift towards a hybrid work-from-home culture. For Altair Law, the primary focus is on the quality of the team members, regardless of their location. They have built a more diverse and well-rounded team by broadening their search beyond the immediate area.
Altair Law emphasizes weekly on-camera team meetings and biannual in-person weekend retreats to foster firm culture and teamwork and mitigate the loss of natural collaboration in a remote work environment.
Andje believes that a company’s culture is defined by its investment in its team. Altair Law prioritizes flexibility and ensures everyone has the tools to succeed and feel valued. This approach has fostered employee loyalty and resulted in low turnover.
Finding Role Models with Similar Values
Andje offers valuable advice for those starting their careers: find a mentor who exemplifies the work-life balance you seek. She emphasizes the importance of surrounding yourself with individuals who share your core values and a similar metric for measuring success. This will help you avoid burnout. But, if burnout does occur, Andje recommends taking a break and remembering that life is long. She chooses to enjoy the journey and not dwell on each obstacle or achievement. As a new mom, she constantly reminds herself that life is about balance.
Only recently, in her well-established career, did she feel she had the space to have a child. She recalls looking around the decision-making tables at other firms and seeing few women and even fewer with children. That’s not the culture at Altair. “I’m proud that we have built a firm where family is valued and encouraged,” Andje protests proudly. She shares that being a mom has made her a better advocate and has allowed her to feel and express love and loss in new and more powerful ways.
Her best advice for young lawyers is to bet on yourself and take risks. For aspiring trial attorneys, she emphasizes the importance of trying their first case as soon as possible. She believes that pulling off the “band-aid” at the first opportunity will bring relief and confidence, ensuring they never look back.
