Shireen Clarkson on Food Fraud Litigation, and the Fight for Corporate Accountability
Welcome to Represent More, a production of We Are Them Media.
In Episode 9, Ryan Clarkson turns the mic around, and Shireen Clarkson becomes the guest.
Shireen shares the personal and professional forces that shaped her into one of the country’s leading consumer advocates, from growing up Persian-American in the Bay Area to co-founding Clarkson Law Firm and building a career taking on some of the biggest food corporations in America.
She reflects on being raised by Iranian immigrant parents who taught independence, education, and self-reliance, and how navigating life between two identities helped fuel her drive to challenge systems that leave people unheard.
Ryan and Shireen also discuss her path from UCSB to UC Law San Francisco (formerly UC Hastings), her early years in litigation, the mentors who shaped her, and the decision to take the leap into founding Clarkson Law Firm in 2014.
The episode also digs into Shireen’s work in food law, including false labeling, contaminated products, unapproved chemicals, and why food fraud litigation remains central to her practice. As a consumer, attorney, and mother, Shireen explains why holding corporations accountable is not just legal work, but personal work.
Topics covered this episode
- Shireen’s Persian-American upbringing and early sense of identity
- How her family shaped her independence, ambition, and sense of purpose
- Her path from UCSB to UC Law San Francisco and plaintiff-side litigation
- The early career mentorship that helped shape her as a trial lawyer
- The decision to co-found Clarkson Law Firm with Ryan Clarkson
- Why food fraud litigation became a calling
- How motherhood deepened her commitment to consumer protection
- The firm’s approach to evaluating cases through merits, damages, and outrage factor
- Why accountability requires litigation, advocacy, research, and public pressure
- Her advice for young lawyers: figure out what you actually care about first
Because justice does not move on its own. It moves when people demand it.
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